I LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



I BV568O 

I fo. ,TeHa 

W — _______ 

gUIITED STATES OF AMERICA 




I 



HAIR DRESSING IN FIJI. 



MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS ; 



•r, % fife of 



JOHN HUNT, 



"WHO WAS EMINENTLY SUCCESSFUL IN CONVERTING 
THE PEOPLE OF FIJI FROM CANNIBALISM 
TO CHRISTIANITY. 



By GEORGE STRINGER ROWE. 




PUBLISHED BY CARLTON" & PORTER, 

SUNDAY SCHOOL UNION, 200 MULBEKR Y-8TEEET, 



NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



This ; volume is commended to the 
Church as especially adapted to promote 
the growth of deep, earnest, and self-sacri- 
ficing piety, and also of the most heroic 
type of the missionary spirit. It brings 
out in strong relief the spiritual life of a 
very holy man, whose soul grew into the ma- 
turity of the grace of entire sanctification 
amid the severe literary and physical, toils, 
and the peculiar dangers of a missionary's 
life in a land of cannibals. Could our 
young people imbibe the spirit of John 
Hunt, the harvest of the world would 
never be permitted to perish for lack of 
abundant reapers. Let this memoir there- 
fore be freely circulated among our fam- 



6 NOTE TO THE AMERICAN EDITION. 



ilies and Sunday-schools, and the cause of 
our great Master and teacher can hardly 
fail of being greatly promoted. 

In this edition a few verbal alterations 
have been made, and a few passages of no 
interest to American readers have been 
omitted. We have also inserted a pic- 
torial illustration. D. W. 



PREFACE. 



The materials of this biography have 
been long laid by, awaiting the arrange- 
ment of far abler hands than mine. 

To prevent a still greater delay I have 
undertaken the work, not venturing to 
hope that I have supplied those who 
knew Mr. Hunt with a portrait which 
they will deem worthy of its subject, but 
anxious that the young men of my own 
generation should not be without the ad- 
vantage of such a high example. 

I claim a lenient criticism from Mr. 
Hunt's friends, on the ground of my hav- 
ing to some extent freshened their remem- 
brance of one of the best men they ever 



8 



PEEFACE. 



knew; and other readers can afford to 
deal gently with my shortcomings, in con- 
sideration of the benefit I am permitted 
to confer upon them by making them 
acquainted, however imperfectly, with a 
rare model of Christian excellence. 

G. S. R. 

Kentish Town, November, 1859. 



OO^TEI^TS. 



CHAPTER I. PA0B 
Introductory 11 

CHAPTER II. 
Birth and Boyhood 14 

CHAPTER III. 
Conversion , 24 

CHAPTER IY. 
Call to Preach 29 

CHAPTER Y. 
Student Life 43 

CHAPTER YI. 
Mission Appointment 64 

CHAPTER YII. 
Departure and Arrival. , ♦ . . 12 

CHAPTER YIII. 
Mission Work — Rewa t , , , 77 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER IX. 
Somosomo ... 95 

CHAPTER X. 
ViWA, 1842, 1843 136 

CHAPTER XI. 
Yiwa, 1844, 1845 162 

CHAPTER XII. 
Yiwa, 1846, 1847 201 

CHAPTER XIII. 
Yiwa, 1848 251 

CHAPTER XIY. 
The End 269 

— — — > < — — 

Hair Dressing in Fiji 2 



A 

MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



CHAPTER I. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

" Not unto us, Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give 

GLOBY, FOB THY MEBCY, AND FOB THY TBUTH's SAKE." 

As John Hunt lay dying in Fiji, where his 
zeal had eaten up his strength, he turned to a 
brother missionary, Mr. Calvert, and said : 

" Let me go, a heap of inconsistencies, back- 
slidings, and unfaithfulness. Let me go, as I 
trust I shall, through divine mercy alone, for 
I have nothing at all in myself, to heaven. 
There is nothing in me as an example to recom- 
mend, which is not much better furnished in the 
lives of many which have been written." 

When told that his survivors would gladly 
heed his wishes about family and mission mat- 
ters, but that he must not bind their hands with 
regard to himself, he quietly yielded in saying 
that he would rather that there should be noth- 



12 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



ing written concerning him, more than a short 
notice of his death. 

The dying man was looking at his own life 
from within, from a position which he only could 
occupy, and it was not in the cheap cant of a 
mock humility, but in all sincerity, that he 
spoke. He read his history as none else could 
read it. He saw the long and often interrupted 
processes by which all the good in him had been 
established. "While others noted the triumphs 
recorded in that history, he recalled the hard 
fighting which had preceded them. He knew 
the difficulties in himself that had tp be over- 
come, and the opposition of his own will that 
had so long resisted or hindered the inner work, 
the outward manifestations of which others ad- 
mired. The reception of every additional good 
into himself had involved penitence for the evil 
it had displaced. Others looked at his life ; he 
saw himself ; and, at that moment of all others 
when he sought, by the simplest faith, to take 
refuge from himself in the mercy of God, no 
wonder that he should speak as he did. 
• But the Church has an entailed interest in the 
memorials of the faithful and good. The conceit 
of an olden time gave the famous ones of earth 
a place in the sky, and traced their images in 
groups of stars. And the lives of such as have 
been great in their goodness, are to be remem- 



INTKODUCTOBY. 



13 



bered for the cheering and guiding of those 
whose voyage is not yet done, and over whom 
the night still gathers. 44 The memory of the 
just is blessed." - 

It is encouraging to realize what we are apt 
sometimes to forget, that Christian heroes are 
made of the same stuff as other men ; and that, 
whatsoever we may inscribe on the pedestals to 
which we elevate them, they still say, " By the 
grace of God, we are what we are." 

The biographer, then, recognizes his task as 
akin to that of the Christian philosopher. It is, 
in all the historic details of his subject, to follow 
and point out, as far as may be, " the excellency 
of the power" which is at work through all. 
He w T ould collect the admiration and love of 
many, not to do service at the shrine of a senti- 
mental hero-worship, that their faith should not 
stand in the wisdom or goodness of men, but 
in the power of God. 

" Now unto Him that is able to do exceed- 
ing ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR 
THINK, ACCORDING TO THE POWER THAT WORKETH 

in us, unto Him be glory in the Church by 
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world with- 
out end. Amen." 



14 A MISSIOISTAEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



CHAPTER II. 

BIETH AND BOYHOOD. 

Infancy — Schooling — Early "Work and its Trials — Young 
Dreams — Eeligious Beginnings and Parental Influence — Anx- 
iety for his Mother's Salvation — -Brain Fever — Good Purpose 

— Cottage Prayer-meeting — First Visit to a Methodist Chapel 

— Band-meeting — Change of Situation — Bemoval to S win- 
derby. 

John Hunt was the third in a family of four 
children, and was born at Hykeham Moor, near 
Lincoln, England, on the 13th of June, 1812. 
His father lived at the time, in comfortable cir- 
cumstances, as the overseer or bailiff on a farm 
belonging to a gentleman in Lincoln. The 
property, however, changed hands ; and the 
bailiff, being thrown out of work, removed 
with his family to Lincoln. Here things went 
badly with them, and want of employment 
brought the sufferings of poverty to their home. 
So poor did they become, that the workhouse 
seemed their only refuge, and, after remaining 
two years in the city, they returned to their own 
parish of Balderton near Newark. Once more 
the father got work, and from that time was 
always able to support his family. 

Such was the beginning of John Hunt's life. 
He had from his parents no advantages beyond 



BIRTH AND BOYHOOD. 



15 



the example of a sturdy and industrious honesty; 
but for that he had more reasons to be thankful 
than many others for their patrimony of wealth 
and name. And little chance was there, even 
forty years ago, for country children to gain 
much learning. John Hunt's school-days were 
passed under the auspices of the parish peda- 
gogue; but his education was soon " finished;" 
for at the age of ten years he began to work 
on a farm, where, however, he seemed scarcely 
in his right place. He was thoughtful and seri- 
ous, and showed signs of mental vigor, so that 
he could remember the clergyman's text better 
than his companions ; but this seemed his only 
point of excellence. He was not handy at his 
work, and a consciousness of inferiority annoyed 
him. Farm-boys are susceptible of ambitious 
feeling, and there is such a thing as emulation 
in the filling of a dung-cart. Now John Hunt 
could not handle a fork, or crack a whip, or tie 
up a plow-line so skillfully as his work-fellows; 
so he was held by them somewhat in contempt, 
and nicknamed after a poor idiot in the village ; 
and, furthermore, because he seemed wanting 
in robust health, he was recommended by the 
rude, hearty lads around him to be a tailor. 
But he bore their jokes as patiently as he could, 
firmly declaring that he would never change his 
business ; which resolution he set forth so often 



16 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



and so pertinaciously, that he carried with him, 
for years after, the style and title of " Farmer 
Jack." 

Yet, in the secrecy of his own heart, the boy 
was meditating other things. His father, when 
a young man, had been a soldier; but deserted, 
and joined the navy, where he saw some service, 
and, besides being in several other important 
actions, was present at the battle of the Nile. 
On a winter's evening John had often heard the 
tales of danger and bravery which his father 
told with much energy, and he resolved to be a 
hero. Though his father had deserted, the son 
longed to enter the army ; and in many a day- 
dream saw himself rising from the ranks, adorn- 
ed with every military virtue, doing deeds of 
mighty prowess, commanding at last an army 
which was always victorious, and then returning, 
covered with glory and laden with unheard-of 
wealth, to be the pride and support of his aged 
parents. He never let any one see his air-built 
castles until many years after, when he was 
doing battle in a far different service : but he 
worked on in the narrow circle of farm-life until 
the age of fifteen, which he marked as an im- 
portant period of his career. 

Up to this time his religious history, such as 
it was, is worthy of note, as showing within it 
the germs of what afterward sprang up in so 



BIRTH AND BOYHOOD. 



17 



strong a growth and such rich fruitage. Neither 
of his parents could read, and they made no 
profession of religion ; yet they lived with strict 
regard to honesty, and what they knew of moral 
right; and the father held somewhat strong 
views about the reality of God's providence, and 
the power of prayer. The mother seldom went to 
church ; but her children were taught to admire 
and practice all things of good report, while they 
were warned against idleness, theft, swearing, 
and other vices. They were trained to say their 
prayers regularly, and always met with a severe 
reproof from their mother, if they spoke in slight 
or ridicule of any minister of religion. 

John fully believed all his father said about 
prayer and providence, and, with great sim- 
plicity, acted upon his convictions. He was 
scrupulously regular in saying his morning and 
evening prayers ; and often, on leaving the 
house to go to work, would say quietly, as he 
shut the door, " Peace be to this house and so 
went on his way happy in the belief that the 
wish was heard above. In guileless consistency 
he prayed about all his little difficulties and fears. 
Thus he asked God to preserve him, when he was 
frightened about thunder, or dogs, or gipsies, 
or anything else that alarmed him ; and he al- 
ways ascribed his safety to the protection of God. 
When about eleven years old, he was riding, with 



18 A MISSION AKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



another boy, on a favorite horse, which they were 
taking, with the other horses, to turn out in a 
meadow. The usually quiet animal threw its 
young riders, and John Hunt was badly cut 
about the head, either against a fence or by the 
horse's heels; he never could tell which. But 
the narrow escape seems to have helped his ha- 
bitual trust in a merciful God, though he still 
remained ignorant of the greater spiritual truths 
of religion. He could read pretty well, and felt 
much interested in the historical parts of the 
Bible. But little inquiry was excited in his mind 
as to anything further, except that he, was sorely 
puzzled with the words "for ever" as applied 
to a future state of punishment. Thinking over 
this again and again, though he felt no fear about 
himself, he was full of dismay at the thought of 
his mother being eternally lost, and often prayed 
very earnestly for her salvation. 

"While John was quite a boy his father be- 
came deeply impressed by the appeals of some 
of that simple and zealous order of Christians 
called "Ranters." He yielded fully to this in- 
fluence, and for a time seemed to live in the pos- 
session of true religion. His son, however, took 
a great dislike to the Ranters, and considered 
them as fit objects for scorn and contempt, the 
more readily as the father was evidently losing 
much of the good he had obtained. In other 



BIRTH A]S T D BOYHOOD. 



19 



respects, too, the fair promise seemed to be less 
hopeful in the lad's heart. As he got a little 
older he became more skillful in his business ; 
and this fact, while it raised him to an equality 
with his fellows, had also the ill effect of leading 
him into closer companionship with them in their 
sins. He prayed less, and lost much of his ear- 
nest feeling about religion. " However,' 5 to use 
his own words, " he never served the devil half 
so cleverly as he wished." 

When sixteen years old he fell ill with brain 
fever, which seemed likely to prove fatal. The 
thought of death was thus brought closer home 
to him than ever before, and he was full of dread, 
being conscious of his unfitness to enter another 
world. Referring, years after, to this time, he says : 

" I thought it would be of no use to promise 
the Lord I would serve him, if he would spare 
me, as I had often made such promises and 
broken them. The only way appeared to be, to 
begin to serve God there and then, according to 
the light I had. So I fell on my knees and be- 
gan to pray. After prayer I read my Bible in 
earnest, but began with the book of the Revela- 
tion, which considerably affected me, though I 
understood but little of what I read, having no 
one to guide me." 

This fresh growth of good purpose was 
strengthened bv the news that a young acquaint- 

2 



20 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



ance, who had been ill but a short time, had died 
of the same disease as that from which John was 
recovering. He now began to seek more light ; 
and as he read and prayed on, with no man to 
teach him, light came, and God's Spirit taught 
the simple heart of that seeking one ; and that 
heart grew softer and softer in blessed penitence. 

As John was getting stronger, some of his old 
companions came to see him ; but he found that 
he could no longer sympathize with them, and 
that their path and his must henceforth be 
widely separated. Confirmed by their visit in 
his purpose to serve God fully, he went one 
evening into the house of some pious neighbors, 
and soon began talking about what was upper- 
most in his thoughts. He spoke of his past life, 
and remembered, with peculiar bitterness, his 
having been guilty of the sin of Sabbath-break- 
ing. As he talked he began to weep ; and then 
the little company knelt down to pray, and John 
praj^ed with them, earnestly seeking the pardon 
of his sins. He went home comforted, and with 
a full purpose to tell his mother all he felt, But 
his heart failed him, and he determined to serve 
God in secret. His mother, however, soon heard 
of what had happened at the cottage prayer- 
meeting, and asked him if it were true. He then 
spoke to her freely, and stated his intention of 
becoming a thorough and professed Christian. 



BIRTH AKD BOYHOOD. 



21 



.Neither she nor any of his friends opposed him. 
Everything seemed to favor his religious im- 
provement. His great want was instruction. 
The sermons he heard at church did not contain 
just that form of truth w T hich his state required, 
and he hungered for more knowledge. 

As John grew stronger he returned to work, 
and found, as his companion, a young man who 
was a Methodist. At his request he went, for 
the first time, to a Methodist chapel, and heard 
a sermon from a local preacher. The hearty 
and devout singing of the congregation seems 
to have affected him powerfully, and he thence- 
forth became a constant attendant at the chapel, 
where his mind quickly opened to understand 
the Gospel. Few of the good people with whom 
he worshiped knew his real state, until the oc- 
currence which he thus records : 

66 One Sunday night, after preaching, it was 
announced that, on a certain night, there would 
be a public hand-meeting. What this meant I 
could not imagine, and by this time I had lost 
my Methodist companion ; but I concluded that 
a sermon would be preached on the occasion, 
and determined to attend, if possible. Accord- 
ingly, at the appointed time, I repaired to the 
chapel, and found a leader standing at the door, 
to prevent improper persons from entering. I 
was going in as usual, when he mildly stopped 



22 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



me, telling me it was not a general but special 
meeting, yet adding, that he had no objection to 
my going in, as he believed I was seriously dis- 
posed. I went in, and was much struck with 
the proceedings. The leader gave out a hymn 
and prayed, and then told his experience. 
Others followed ; so that it appeared to me the 
rule of the meeting, that all present should speak. 
I felt it my imperative duty to rise and state 
what I knew and felt of religion ; but the 
thought of doing so before a company of Chris- 
tians made me tremble exceedingly. At length, 
however, I summoned sufficient courage, and 
told, in a few plain words, the exercises of my 
mind. All present seemed much encouraged, 
and did what they could to encourage me to 
continue seeking the Lord." 

About this time he was leaving Balderton in 
search of a place elsewhere, and set out with a 
full purpose to acknowledge God in all his ways, 
hoping to get a situation where he would possess 
religious advantages. He went to the Statutes, 
but was not engaged. He then accompanied a 
cousin to the house of a respectable and pious 
farmer, who at once took him into his service. 
The thing w#s done in a hurry. John had never 
intended seeking a situation there, and felt that 
he had not prayed about it. From the time of 
his going there he was never comfortable. His 



BIRTH AND BOYHOOD. 



23 



strength failed, and he was convinced that he 
was not in his right place. In about a month 
he left, and attended the market at Newark, 
taking his stand among the servants who wanted 
places, and fully trusting that God would direct 
the right person to seek him out. About noon 
a stranger came, and at once engaged him to 
serve his daughter at Swinderby. He then took 
him to a man who was to be his fellows-servant, 
and whom John to his great delight found to be 
a Methodist. This man at once assured his new 
companion that the situation was just what he 
wanted ; that there was a Methodist society at 
Swinderby, and that the lady he was going to 
serve was weLL disposed toward religion. He 
afterward founa that this was all true, and at 
once joined the Methodist society, by becoming 
a member of a class. The class-leader gave good 
and profitable counsel to his young charge, who 
greatly needed it ; for of late he had been losing 
ground. He still tried to serve God with steady 
purpose, but did it rather from a sense of duty 
than because his heart was in it. Whatever he 
had of religion brought him no joy, and very 
little peace. He had heard others talk about an 
assurance of God's favor given by the Holy 
Spirit ; but while this was the very privilege he 
longed after, it seemed a mystery which he had 
no skill to understand. 



24 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



CHAPTEE III. 

CONVERSION. 

Hears the Eev. John Smith preach — Penitence — Salvation — - 
Temptation — Progress. 

The Rev. John Smith was now stationed in the 
Lincoln circuit, and news came to Swinderby 
of the power of his preaching, and of the con- 
version of many souls. John Hunt determined 
that he would take the first opportunity of hear- 
ing this good man, and, finding that he was to 
preach at Thorpe, a place not far off, accom- 
panied several others to the service. He after- 
ward referred to this memoraoie occasion, as 
follows : 

" There was nothing in Mr. Smith's preachirig 
that particularly struck me. The text was : 
' This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all ac- 
ceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world 
to save sinners.' The sermon was plain, pointed, 
and powerful, and some parts of it awful ; but 
the effect on my mind was rather hardening 
than otherwise. After the sermon a prayer- 
meeting commenced, and, after some time, con- 
cluded without anything remarkable. We who 
were of the Swinderby party thought it time to 
go home, and left the chapel for that purpose. 



CONVERSION. 



25 



I felt much dissatisfied, as I was going away ex- 
actly as I came, and proposed to return to the 
chapel and remain a little longer. To this our 
party agreed. A prayer-meeting was still going 
on in the chapel, and some were seeking mercy. 
Mr. Smith was praying with a poor woman who 
could not believe in Christ ; and, feeling what 
was needed, he cried out, with all his soul and 
might, ' Send us more power !' I knelt near him, 
and remember, with some little feeling, I said 
'Amen.' Immediately a most overwhelming 
influence came upon me, so that I cried aloud 
for mercy for the sake of Christ ; while I was, 
in a minute, as completely bathed with tears and 
perspiration as if I had been thrown into a river. 
I prayed, as in an agony, for a few minutes. 
Mr. Smith came to me, and asked me what I 
wanted. I answered, ' I want my sins to be for- 
given for the sake of Christ.' 

" This was all I knew. I had only one 
thought, and only one way of expressing it, 
either to God or man. Mr. Smith asked me if 
I believed God gave his Son for me. I said, 
4 Yes.' He then asked, 'Do you believe that 
Christ has died for you?' I said, 'Yes.' He 
then brought me to the point, and asked, 'Do 
you believe that God is satisfied with the atone- 
ment of his Son, and that now, for his sake, he 
forgives you? 5 I could not answer this, but 



26 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

cried to God for help, and was enabled to trust 
in the sufficient atonement of Christ on my per- 
sonal account. At that moment I felt that par- 
doning love of God, and cried out, c I do save ! 
I do save !'— intending to say, ' He does save.' 
Mr. Smith said, ' No, it is Christ that saves you.' 
That was what I meant, and what I then pro- 
claimed with a heart full of 'joy unspeakable.' 
I exhorted all to join me in praising the Lord, 
and had a most delightful sense of his love, 
while we sang, 'Praise God, from whom all 
blessings flow.' We then returned home, re- 
joicing in God; but on the way I was tempted 
to believe it was all a delusion, until the apos- 
tle's words were applied to my mind: 'Above 
all, taking the shield of faith, whereby ye shall 
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wick- 
ed ;' and the temptation was utterly dispelled." 

Such was the place and manner of John 
Hunt's birth into the new life. The man of 
mighty faith who knelt by him as he struggled 
out of the last bonds of unbelief, and uttered his 
first incoherent joy-cry of freedom, was no stran- - 
ger to such scenes. He was not one of those 
ministers who can content themselves with the 
uniform absence of conversions under their min- 
istry, getting comfort from certain sedative re- 
flections about edifying the Church, instructing 
believers, and so forth. John Smith did not 



CONVERSION. 



27 



make one part of his duty a subterfuge, under 
which to skulk from the performance of the rest. 
His heart was too large, and too full of the love 
of Christ, to let him interpret success as the mere 
hothouse growth of a shut-in churchism ; and 
God, whose Gospel he honored as the Gospel, 
honored him, and gave him to see hundreds re- 
claimed from sin, and made happy and holy in 
Christ Jesus. 

Little did the preacher think whereunto that 
rough plowboy- s conversion would grow ; and 
the plowboy himself little imagined what a 
course then opened before him. That heart was 
prepared by God's tilth ; and there the seed lay 
safe in God's keeping. 

At first the religion of the young convert, 
who was now about seventeen years old, did not 
prosper ; he noticed many inconsistencies in one 
who professed to be a. Christian, and made them 
the subject of conversation elsewhere; and thus 
a cloud was brought over his own spirit. After 
a few months, however, this snare was removed, 
and John was left alone among those who made 
no religious pretensions. And now his heart 
grew stronger in faith, and he advanced steadily 
in the knowledge and love of God. The cloud 
passed off, and the young Christian experienced 
all the fresh brightness which belongs to the 
morning of the new life. He thus describes it : 



28 A MISSIONARY AMONG- CANNIBALS. 



" In no part of my religious course do I re- 
member having such near intercourse with God ; 
such tenderness of conscience ; such delight in 
his service, and such compassion for the souls of 
others. I was persecuted by those around me ; 
but it was c for righteousness' sake,' according to 
their own acknowledgment."" 

The rigid morality and strict observance of 
the Sabbath which were conspicuous in the 
young Christian servant, exposed him to much 
ridicule and annoyance ; and he actually left 
this situation at last, -because his principles were 
not sufficiently elastic and accommodating to 
suit the looser notions of others. In regard to 
all other matters, his situation was very comfort- 
able ; but his way to leave was plain, though it 
was by no means so clear what was the next 
step to be taken : and a time of painful anxiety 
followed. But the lad's path was already being 
turned toward the high career in which he was 
afterward to be so greatly distinguished, but of 
which then he had never dreamed. 



CALL TO PREACH. 



29 



CHAPTER IY. 

CALL TO PREACH. 

Another Situation — Beading — Self-culture — First Public Ad- 
dress — Discouragement — A clear Call — Close Study and Suc- 
cess — Another Step — Prayer and Diligence — A Candidate for 
the Wesleyan Ministry — Received for the Foreign Work — Ex- 
amination in London — Theological Institution. 

John Hunt was next engaged by Mr. Wilkin- 
son, of Swinderby, for one year. And an im- 
portant year it was. The new master was a good 
man ; and, moreover, possessed books, to which 
his servants had access. Hitherto John's read- 
ing had gone very little beyond his Bible. He 
was now scarcely nineteen years of age, and had 
read Banyan's " Pilgrim's Progress," a part of 
the Methodist Magazine for 1812, and a few 
tracts. " This," he says, " was my only library, 
for the first two years after I begun to serve 
God." But now better times had come ; and 
the unlettered youth stood amazed and delight- 
ed, as all the treasures of all knowledge seemed 
to him to be arrayed on the farm-house shelves. 
Here he first saw the works of Wesley, Paley, 
and D wight, and looked with astonishment at 
the manifold learning of Home's " Introduc- 
tion," and other kindred works, each of which 
seemed to open a new world. From this time 



30 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



lie began to be a student. He gave himself up 
eagerly to the reading of Wesley's " Notes on 
the New Testament ;" but the first book that 
thoroughly got hold of him was Mason on 
".Self-Knowledge ;" and it is impossible to cal- 
culate how far the wisdom of that book went to 
lay the foundation of the young reader's charac- 
ter. During the rare and scanty leisure left by 
his farm-work, he read diligently; and new 
thoughts filled his mind, and the beginnings of a 
new life were in him, as he strode along beside 
the team, or followed the plow. Strengthened 
by the wholesome and nutritious diet afforded 
by the books within his reach, his mind began 
to exercise itself; and lookers-on would never 
have suspected how, beneath that blue smock, 
there was a heart often beating high with the 
consciousness of a power it scarcely dared to 
credit. 

Whatever else he read or pondered, John still 
kept his first book in the first place. As in ail 
his after life, so now, the Bible was the center 
of his system of study. There his heart was 
fixed ; and though, as time passed on, his mind, 
with growing vigor, w T ent forth far, and gathered 
much wealth of various lore, yet his heart was 
fixed as at first, and everything he won was 
stored up where his treasure was. Thus, at the 
time now referred to, he was accustomed to busy 



CALL TO PREACH. 



31 



his mind with a set subject, while his hands 
were engaged in daily toil. Once only does this 
habit seem to have interfered with his regular 
work. Once his master gave him orders to take 
a load of grain to Newark the next morning. 
John rose betimes, and fed the horses, and made 
due preparation for the journey ; but while thus 
employed, he must have got hold of some speci- 
ally interesting subject for thought, for he har- 
nessed the horses and set off to market with 
an empty wagon ! No doubt his meditations 
were more profitable to himself than to his 
master. 

This, however, was quite an exceptional oc- 
currence. No servant more thoroughly served 
his master. He was always earnest in every- 
thing, and would sometimes astonish his employ- 
er by the amount of work he would get through 
in a short time. Generally, the labor of his 
hands was not hindered by the activity of his 
mind. Some passage of Scripture usually formed 
the topic of young Hunt's meditations ; and he 
set himself to find the main points contained in 
it, and to trace out the truths which they indi- 
cated. Sometimes a feeling would creep over 
him, as though he were standing before many 
listeners for whose benefit he unfolded the writ- 
ten word. But such a thought only startled him ? 
and was soon dismissed. Finding that he was 



32 A MISSIONARY A3IOXG CA^XIBALS. 



much the better for this habit of daily meditation 
on a fixed passage, he spoke of it to some other 
members of the society, and recommended thorn 
to adopt the same plan. This seems to have 
deepened the impression felt by some good peo- 
ple, who had marked the earnest piety of the 
young man, that he was being prepared for a 
life of special usefulness. 

One day his master asked him to give a short 
address on the following Sunday evening, when 
there was to be no preacher at the Swinderby 
chapel. John w T as frightened at the thought ; 
but as several others, for whom he had great 
respect, backed the request, he gave a timid 
consent. At the time of service the place was 
well filled with those w T ho had assembled to hold 
a prayer-meeting, and before these John stood 
up in great fear. But his heart was full of 
young, warm love ; and somehow his thoughts 
found ready expression in fit words; and the 
address which, perchance, would have offended 
the nice ears of the refined religionist, neverthe- 
less greatl} 7 warmed the hearts of those plain 
villagers, and helped them to go forth more 
cheerily into their next day's toil. 

They who had asked the young farm-servant 
to speak at the prayer-meedng felt their con- 
viction strengthened as to the elements of pow- 
er which already began to show themselves in 



CALL TO PKEACH. 



33 



hirn ; so they requested him, soon after, to ad- 
dress the congregation in a little Methodist 
chapel in another village. His mind was very 
much disturbed by this application, and he could 
not think it possible that he had or could have 
any fitness for such employment. He told all 
his fears and trouble to his master, and the 
good man answered in his own plain, honest 
way, 

" If the Lord calls thee to the work, he'll give 
thee tools to work with." 

Somewhat enheartened, yet full of misgiving, 
John, accompanied by a friend, went to the 
place appointed. He had arranged his thoughts 
very carefully, and all he intended to say was 
clearly before him, as he went over it again and 
again along the road. He reached the little 
chapel ; but when the time came for him to 
speak his thoughts became confused, and then 
took flight altogether ; and this first appearance 
before strangers was by no means a success. 
Discouraged and sad, he returned home. That 
w r as a restless night for him. All he had thought 
before about his unfitness for such work came 
back with a force doubled by the remembrance 
of his failure ; and the only comfort he could 
find was in resolving never to meddle again with 
what was clearly no business of his. 

John's elders, however, still believed that he 



3 i A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



was to preach, and urged him to make fresh 
trial. There was in Swinderby a local preach- 
er, in whose class John was a member, and 
whom he afterward described as " a very pious 
and clever man, and one of my earliest and 
best friends." 

This Mr. Ely ton was appointed to preach one 
Sunday at the village of Girton; but seeing 
that something would prevent, asked John to 
go for him. He could not refuse the urgent 
request of one in whom he had so much con- 
fidence. He went to Girton, and got through 
the service more satisfactorily than, at his for- 
mer attempt. Some good people of respectability 
and intelligence who attended the chapel were 
much pleased with this early effort, and greatly 
delighted the good man who had sent John, by 
telling him that they hoped he would give them 
the same substitute whenever he could not come 
himself. 

But the young man himself was far from sat- 
isfied, and, from this time, passed through a 
course of the most distressing doubt and tempt- 
ation, which lasted some months. He shrank 
with such unaffected terror from the thought of 
his presuming, unbidden by God, to touch the 
holy work of preaching, that for a while he 
could not receive the encouragements of his 
friends and fathers of the Church, or admit the 



CALL TO PKEACH. 



85 



fact, which others rejoiced to see, that his efforts 
had been made useful. Yielding at last to the 
judgment of those whom he held in high es- 
teem, he allowed his name to be put on the cir- 
cuit plan as an exhorter. On receiving the first 
plan upon which his name appeared, he took it 
into his room, and, shutting himself in, spread 
it before God ; and then he prayed earnestly 
that he might know whether it was the will of 
God that he should preach the Gospel. As he 
knelt, the answer came. His doubts and mis- 
givings passed away, and a clear conviction 
came upon him that his duty thenceforth w r as to 
preach Christ. From the moment when it was 
first given, to the day of his death, that con- 
viction was never disturbed. 

At this important point in his history, John 
Hunt was not only called by God to preach, but 
received, with the commission, special grace to 
fit him for the work. His piety increased, and, 
under its influence, the noble vigor and earnest- 
ness of his character soon showed themselves. 
Conscious of his w T ant of culture, he caught at 
every chance of training his mind, and was dili- 
gent in attending an evening school, where he 
had lessons in writing and English grammar. He 
soon became a favorite with the village congre- 
gations whom he addressed. When first he ap- 
peared before them, many wondered to see such 

Missionary among Cannibals. 3 



36 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



a preacher come. His rough and somewhat un- 
gainly appearance lost none of its effect when he 
began to speak in rustic brogue ; but as he talk- 
ed on, among all his blunders, there was some- 
thing that won the attention. He aimed at 
nothing grand, but spoke with simplicity that 
which he evidently thought and felt. When 
next he came, the wonder was that he improved 
so fast. Few had any idea of how he had to 
watch and work to reach that improvement. He 
was still a servant, and was too genuine a Chris- 
tian to make religion an excuse for laziness, or 
to cheat his earthly master under pretext of bet- 
ter serving his God. Some Sundays he had to 
preach at a distant place, and could not get back 
before midnight; but, though he might have 
walked many miles that day, he was in the 
stable attending to his horse by four o'clock the 
next morning. Besides this, he very frequently 
spent two whole nights a week in prayer and 
reading the Bible, with Wesley's, Fletcher's, 
and Watson's works. Nearly twenty years had 
been lost, and " the King's business required 
haste;" but the young watcher, working with 
such intense effort, little thought how great was 
the enterprise for which he was being fitted by 
Him who strengthened his servant to gather in 
months the fruit of years. 

John Hunt, the plowboy, as he was still call- 



CALL TO PREACH. 



37 



ed, soon became a great favorite at the country 
chapels in the Lincoln circuit, and the people 
flocked to hear him, while many had good rea- 
son to be glad that they had ever listened to 
his voice. 

In the year 1833 the Eev. William Smith 
was appointed to superintend the Lincoln cir- 
cuit, and, soon after his arrival, had an oppor- 
tunity of hearing John Hunt preach in a vil- 
lage chapel. There was enough excellence in 
the young preacher, notwithstanding his fustic 
bearing, his awkward manner, and broad dialect, 
to convince Mr. Smith that he was listening to 
one who gave uncommon promise of future 
power. After the service Mr. Smith went to 
speak to Hunt, and was astonished to hear him 
say that he was only a common farm-servant. 
The minister then questioned him as to whether 
he had ever felt any conviction that he ought 
to give himself up entirely to the work of 
preaching. The young man w T as evidently 
startled at an inquiry which went at once into 
that secret place of his heart, w T here, for some 
time, there had been a confused moving of un- 
shapen desires and vague longings after some 
other sphere of action. It was not likely that 
the plow T boy w r ould feel all he had felt, as he 
found something in himself that claimed kindred 
with the master-minds whose w^orks he had stud- 



38 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



ied with such delight, and yet jog on as a mere 
plowboy still. The full-winged vigor, which 
strengthened so fast, could not but feel some 
impatience at the binding of the old chrysalis 
shell. There is in all true genius an instinct as 
unerring as that of the forest-bird which, hatch- 
ed in the nest of some homestead fowl, moves 
restless among the well-fed pensioners at the 
barn-door, until, finding some day that its pin- 
ions have grown strong, it starts with exulting 
cry from the low ground, and makes straight 
and swiftly away for the freedom of the woods. 
John Hunt had genius, as true as ever bore up 
some from the low level where once they walk- 
ed to the highest and noblest fame. But he 
had in him more than the impulse of genius. 
A power, not of this world, wrought mightily 
in his soul. The word of Him who called those 
fishermen, so that they left their nets and fol- 
lowed him, had come to this youth. As yet 
the word was not all spoken ; but the listener's 
soul heard enough to make him feel that he 
might not always hold that plow. 

When, therefore, Hunt was asked whether he 
had thought of giving himself to the work of 
the ministry, he declared that a sense of unfit- 
ness made him shrink altogether from such a 
suggestion. But he confessed that he had an 
" ambition "—so he expressed it — " to go to the 



CALL TO PREACH. 



39 



Cape, as a servant to Laidman Hodgson," the 
missionary, who had occasionally ministered in 
Lincolnshire ; there, he thought, he might do 
gardening and farm-work, and perhaps " a little 
in teaching children in the Sunday school, and 
in preaching to the English settlers." This in- 
terview confirmed Mr. Smith's conviction that 
the young local preacher was to occupy a posi- 
tion of greater activity in the Church, and he 
was accordingly sent to some of the larger 
chapels in the country places, and then into the 
city. He went on improving rapidly, until, in 
the beginning of 1834, he entered the service of 
another Wesleyan, Mr. George Briggs, of Potter 
Hanworth. 

During his residence in this place Hunt 
gained much power as a preacher. Not only 
was he sought after in the country, but the city 
congregations listened to him with delight. 
Judging him by the standard of education and 
refinement, he was seriously deficient; but his 
defects were forgotten in admiration of his well- 
chosen and simple language ; his rich imagina- 
tion adorning the solid, logical structure of his 
discourse ; the might of earnestness by which the 
fire in the preacher's heart mastered his hearers, 
until sometimes the whole audience bowed be- 
fore the uplifting of that hard, rough hand, and 
sobs and tears replied to those earnest, though 



40 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



ungrammatical appeals. The secret of his suc- 
cess is given in a scrap which lie wrote about 
the time of his removing to Potter Han worth : 

" I see, to be useful as a public speaker, I must 
be eminent as a private Christian." And then 
he upbraids himself for not having visited the 
sick diligently, or reproved sin faithfully. 

While many admired and sought him, he did 
not seem to be lifted up by their praise ; but the 
growing consciousness of his own defects kept 
him very humble, and led him to continued 
prayer. The power which he exercised in the 
pulpit he had gained in the closet. What sea- 
sons of intense pleading were passed there, none 
can know but He who "seeth in secret!" On 
one occasion he had retired before preaching, 
and a young man went to speak to him, but 
quickly came back, saying that the preacher had 
not noticed him entering the room, but seemed 
so rapt in communion with God that he had not 
the heart to disturb him. 

On a Sunday morning he often went, as early 
as four o'clock, to see another local preacher who 
resided in the same place, and who still remem- 
bers him with reverent affection ; and these two 
would diligently prepare themselves by conver- 
sation and prayer for the work of the clay. 

It was now generally known that Hunt was 
to be proposed as a candidate for the Wesleyan 



CALL TO PREACH. 



41 



ministry. The first step was to get the recom- 
mendation of the circuit quarterly meeting. This 
was given unanimously and heartily in March, 
1835. In the following May he passed the dis- 
trict meeting, and was accepted as a preacher on 
trial by the conference of the same year. He 
had never lost his first bias of inclination toward 
the mission work, and it was at once decided 
that he should be sent abroad. He still clung 
to the idea of going to the Cape, and hoped 
that he should receive an appointment to that 
colony. 

When he came up to London to be examined, 
with other candidates, before the missionary com- 
mittee, his superintendent minister had to send* 
the usual communication about him, containing, 
among other tilings, some sketch of the candi- 
date's character and attainments. Mr. Smith's 
letter about this Lincolnshire farm-boy amused 
the secretaries, who thought it a piece of good- 
natured extravagance ; but when they came to 
examine the young man, they very readily ac- 
knowledged that he was far beyond the average 
standard. It was decided that Hunt should be 
sent to the Theological Institution, which had 
been established at Hoxton the year before. 

There were some who regarded this step with 
anxiety and almost with fear. They dreaded 
the effect of such an entire change upon one in 



42 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



whom they felt the deepest interest. They saw 
the need of refinement, but felt alarm lest, in the 
process, some of the pure metal might be lost.- 
These were not among the objectors who, almost 
invariably uneducated themselves, can see no 
need of an educated ministry, and who hold that 
there can be no increase of learning or mental 
culture except at the expense of piety. Those 
who followed John Hunt to London with their 
prayers were the first to acknowledge the bene- 
fit he derived from his residence there, and be- 
came zealous supporters of the institution, upon 
which they looked at first with shyness and mis- 
trust. 

Hunt himself rejoiced at the prospect of going 
to Hoxton ; and spending the latter part of the 
time in Lincolnshire with Mr. Grimes, of Wad- 
dington, had leisure to prepare himself more 
fully for regular study. 



STUDENT LIFE. 



43 



CHAPTEE V. 

STUDENT LIFE. 

Progress — Advice to a Class-leader — Plan of Daily Devotions — 
Letter to Dr. Bunting — Second Session at Hoxton — Christian 
Holiness — Spiritual History — The Eev. John M'Leans Visit 
to Hoxton — Eevival — Sanctmcation — Eapid Improvement — 
The Preacher — The Man — Oxford — Third Session began. 

In September, 1835, John Hunt entered the 
Theological Institution, which was then under the 
government of that most reverend man, Joseph 
Entwisle. There were about twenty young men 
in the institution, and among these the Lincoln- 
shire man soon became a general favorite ; 
though his blunders in reading, his ungainly 
carriage, and provincial brogue, sometimes pro- 
voked a smile. 

It was a great change from farm work to stu- 
dent life, and at first the young countryman 
found himself suffering from headache ; but be- 
fore long he was able to apply himself with all 
his characteristic earnestness to his studies, and, 
as might be expected, his progress was rapid and 
sure. He became warmly attached to Mr. En- 
twisle and the tutors, and won the unceasing 
esteem and love of his fellow-students. 

As a preacher he was frequently employed, 



44 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



and often with marked success. About two 
months after his arrival in London he writes to 
a friend : 

" The Lord has made me a blessing since I 
came to London. O that I were more holy ! 
then I believe I should be more useful. I am 
afraid some will be lost because I am not more 
holy ! But why should this be the case ? My 
God is willing to give me all the salvation 
which Jesus died to purchase for me, and wil- 
ling now. Lord, I do receive more of thy sal- 
vation while I am writing! I do receive by 
faith an increase of holiness. Lord, help me to 
believe, and all is mine ! 

4 Give, give all my soul requires, 
All, all that is in thee.' 

" Let us not be satisfied with being ordinary 
Christians. Let us pray and believe, until pray- 
ing and believing become habitual. I believe 
it is possible to live in the Spirit to such a de- 
gree that it would be as natural to pray and be- 
lieve as to breathe." 

To the same friend, who had recently become 
a class-leader, he wrote some time afterward: 
"I am very happy that I have now to think of 
yon and to pray for you in an official character. 
I think this is one of the most important periods 
of your life. Although I have not sustained the 
office myself, perhaps I may give a little instruc- 



PKOGKESS. 



45 



tion on this subject. I think, then, that every 
class-leader should be a diligent student of per- 
sonal experience. You must in this respect be 
always at home, reading your own heart, attend- 
ing to all its workings, and making experiments. 
You will find this of great use. In connection 
with reading your own heart, you must read and 
study, as time w T ill permit, Mr. Wesley's ' Ser- 
mons and Notes on the New Testament, 5 in 
which you will find religion taught in the same 
way in which God teaches it to every child of 
his, in his own experience, by his Holy Spirit. 
These things, of course, must be subordinate to 
the study of your Bible. And, with respect to 
that blessed book, we must always be scholars : 
I mean literally such. We must never give up 
the practice of committing Scripture to memory. 
We never speak to or for God better than when 
we do it in his own words. Recommend this 
plan to your charge, and follow it yourself. 

" As soon as you can, it will be well to ask 
them to pray in the class. They will often get 
more spiritual good in this way than in any 
other. Try to make them active. When you 
can, take them with you to visit the sick ; and 
use every possible argument to cure their natu- 
ral shame of religion. 

"But you know all these things; and I beg 
your pardon for saying so much on the subject. 



46 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



Since I last wrote, I have not been so well in 
health as formerly ; but I am now getting bet- 
ter. With respect to my experience, it has 
varied very much — too much, £ O how waver- 
ing is my mind!' Sometimes I have been get- 
ting on well; at other times I have gone, the 
contrary way ; so that I fear I am not much ad- 
vanced. Perhaps you think me rather back- 
ward in stating my Christian experience. It is 
not for want of Christian love to you, or of 
Christian confidence in you. No, the one is pure 
and fervent; the other firm and unwavering. 
But the reason (if I have one) is, that I am 
ashamed of it: not ashamed of the religion I 
have, but ashamed that I have so little. I find 
myself reproved, however, for this, in your hon- 
est confession of fault and unfaithfulness. I 
have much cause for such confessions. I am a 
very ungrateful child, and sometimes suffer very 
much on account of my unfaithfulness. How- 
ever, I have much cause of gratitude to my long- 
suffering God. He is good ! He is good ! O 
that my heart were filled with love ! O that 
my lips could speak his praise ! I have found 
the Lord good to me in my public engagements 
lately. 

* Tis worth living for this, to administer bliss 
And salvation in Jesus' name !' 

"I enjoyed the missionary anniversaries very 



PEOGBESS. 



47 



much, and I trust was afresh baptized with the 
missionary spirit. We had very pleasing in- 
telligence from Africa, the place, I expect, of 
my future labors. It is probable that I shall 
have another year in the institution. I hope I 
shall. I am just getting into my studies, and 
another year would be of much more use than 
this has been. But I must submit to the will 
of my heavenly Father and his Church." 

Toward the close of this his first year at the 
Theological Institution, Hunt had adopted the 
following plan for his devotions at the beginning 
and close of the day : 

" 1. Commence the day with praising God for 
the mercies of the past night, and repeat the 
Lord's Prayer. 2. As far as possible, lay out 
the business of the clay. 3. Bring every part of 
this business before God in prayer, and ask his 
help against the probable dangers of the day. 
4. Read a portion of the New Testament on my 
knees. 5. Bead a portion of the Old Testament, 
and pray for my friends, relatives, the Church, 
and the world. Altogether this will occupy an 
hour. 

" Night. — 1. Commit to memory a passage of 
Scripture. 2. Self-examination ; confession ; 
thanksgiving ; prayer." 

With much anxiety, and far more satisfaction 
to the judges than to himself, Hunt passed the 



48 A % MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



examination at the end of the year. He had 
now learned enough to make him more hungry 
than ever after knowledge, and was full of fear 
lest he should be taken away from Hoxton be- 
fore he had made further progress. In writing 
to Dr. Bunting, the president of the institution, 
he says : 

" Such is the sense which I feel of my 
privileges in the Wesleyan Theological Institu- 
tion, that I regard my coming to it as the most 
important event of my life, my conversion to 
God excepted. 

" Among the many privileges which I have 
enjoyed in the institution, the fatherly and pas- 
toral care of our honored governor, the Rev. 
Joseph Entwisle, has not been the least import- 
ant and useful. From him I have received 
much Christian counsel and advice. He has 
endeavored to correct my errors in reading, 
writing, &c, and has given me much instruc- 
tion concerning Methodism generally, and the 
duty of a Methodist preacher in particular. 
These instructions, together with his holy ex- 
ample, have been, and I am sure will be, of 
great service to me. He has always endea- 
vored, and I trust not without success, to im- 
press upon our minds the important truth, that 
the great work of a Christian minister is to 6 save 
himself and them that hear him.' 



PKOGEESS. 



49 



" The instructions which I have received in 
Christian theology from our honored theological 
tutor, the Bev. John Hannah, have been of the 
most beneficial character." After sketching 
the theological course, he proceeds : " I have in- 
variably retired from these lectures with a deep 
sense of my own ignorance, and with new and 
exalted views of the authority, excellence, and 
truth of the Bible. And I trust that, in some 
degree, my mind has been stored with its truths, 
and my heart with its grace." 

He then goes on to enumerate his other studies, 
all of which had, of course, been purely ele- 
mentary. He. had begun to enjoy researches 
into History, Logic, Astronomj^ Electricity, and 
Chemistry, but was paying special attention to 
English Grammar, Geography, and Arithmetic. 
In concluding, he writes: "I have preached 
eighty-eight times since I have been in the 
institution, and I hope I have not labored in vain. 

" Allow me, sir, in conclusion, to say, that 
such is my view of the importance and respon- 
sibility of the Christian ministry, my own un- 
fitness for the proper discharge of its various 
duties, the good which I have already derived 
from the institution, and the adaptation of every- 
thing connected with it to make me ' a workman 
that needeth not to be ashamed,' that I earnestly 
request that I may stay another year." 



50 A MISSIONABY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

The importance of Hunt's continuing a stu- 
dent at Hoxton was felt by others as well as 
himself; and in August, 1836, he resumed his 
work, after having visited his home, and preach- 
ed about thirty times during the vacation. 

This session was remarkable in the course of 
John Hunt's studies as the time when he began 
to learn Latin and Greek. But it is far worthier 
of note in the religious history of the student- 
preacher. He returned to Hpxton dissatisfied 
with his own degree of piety, and with a convic- 
tion of the heed of holiness, which seems to 
have oppressed rather than stimulated him. He 
addressed himself diligently to the subject of 
Christian holiness as a part of his . theological 
studies, and a solid foundation of well ascer- 
tained truth was the result. Already his views 
on this great matter were clear, well assorted, 
and carefully guarded. Some who have taught 
a recklessly loose doctrine of perfection might 
learn, with advantage to themselves and their 
disciples, from the young student. 

" I am very much afraid," he says, writing to 
a friend, " of people who have exalted views of 
sanctifi cation lowering the standard of justifica- 
tion. I think this is not a needless fear. I have 
known some who have professed to enjoy entire 
sanctification, who have asserted the impossibility 
of forgiving our enemies, and of loving them 



PROGRESS. 51 

that hate us, and of blessing them that curse us, 
in a justified state. Now I am sure this is con- 
trary to my experience, and I think to yours, 
and I think to the word of God." 

The more Hunt searched into the teachings 
and promises of the Bible concerning holiness, 
the more he reproached himself with living un- 
blessed by the great good which he saw within 
his reach. A notable crisis in the young preach- 
er's life was close at hand ; and it is well that 
of this very time we have a brief record, given 
by himself. 

"Nov. 4, 1836. I now, in the fear of God, 
commence keeping a diary. I think it will be 
of use to me. And as this is a very important 
period of my life, I have no doubt that what I 
may write will be useful to me in future days. 
I am now in a poor state in my soul. I have 
enjoyed much more religion than I enjoy at pres- 
ent. I have been very unfaithful to my God ; 
and, although I constantly purpose to be more 
devoted to him, I am as often unfaithful to my 
purpose, or I fail in performing it for want of 
more strength. I trust in Jesus for all that I need. 

" Saturday, 5. I bless God, I think I have 
had a better day to-day. I went this afternoon 
into the town with tracts, and found many poor 
creatures glad to receive them. Some of these 
are wretched indeed. I hope I feel for them ; 

Missionary among Cannibals. 4 



52 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



but I do not feel half enough. To-night I went 
to a prayer-meeting. I professed to be in 
earnest for full salvation. O that my future life 
may give evidence that this profession was a 
true one ! I need, I very much need, this 
blessing. I know it is the will of God that I 
should have it. O why have I not ? Lord, save 
me, I beseech thee, for Christ's sake ! 

" Sunday j 6. I had not so much comfort 
in preaching as I generally have. I think, how- 
ever, that I am making some progress in re- 
ligion. 

"Monday^ 7. I think, on the whole, I have 
made some improvement in my spiritual con- 
cerns this day. But I want to be more holy. 
I am full of sin and am not fit either for God's 
service here or for his heaven if he were to 
call me. Jesus, let me know my interest in 
thee for full salvation. Nothing but this can 
fully fit me for the important work of preach- 
ing the Gospel. O what are all other qualifi- 
cations ? Lord, save me ! 

"Tuesday, 8. I think I am making some 
improvement in the things of God. I have 
heard Brother H. to-night, and I think I shall 
be more earnest than I have been to save sin- 
ners. 

" Wednesday, 9. I have had a comfortable 
day to-day. I believe the Lord is leading me 



PROGRESS. 



53 



on in the paths of righteousness for his Name's 
sake. I want to be more, much more devoted 
to God. I expect I shall have to go to Africa, 
and I am sure I am not at all fit for such an 
undertaking in my present state. I want more 
of everything, but especially religion. Lord, 
save me, for Christ's sake! 

" Thursday, 10. I have had a tolerably 
good day. I have to study very hard, perhaps 
harder than I ought ; but I have much, very 
much, to learn ; and there are many things 
which I must learn here, or I will never learn 
them at all. But what use will it all be if I 
have not a proportionate degree of religion ? 
Thank God, I may have this ! I may have as 
much of the best of all gifts as I am willing 
to receive. God has placed the whole of the 
Gospel blessings within my reach. I know I 
have only to £ ask and have whate'er I want. 5 

"Friday, 11. I have had a good day. I 
think I make some improvement ; but I am not 
cleansed from all sin. I feel that a want of full 
salvation is a real hinderance to me. 

" Tuesday, 15. My silence so long speaks 
against me and this is only one witness. Con- 
science also speaks, and I find I am not getting 
on so well as I have been. I was at Graves- 
end on Sunday, and preached three times, from 
Matt, xxii, 37 ; Mai. iii, 16 ; Acts xiii, 38, 39. 



54 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



I had a good day, and I was made a blessing 
in some degree. I want more of God. Last 
night I heard Mr. Dawson. A blessed man 
he is. 

" Wednesday, 23. On Sunday I was at 
Norwood. I preached twice and held a love- 
feast. I had a good day, and heard what I had 
never heard in my life. A gentleman told me 
that he attended a lovefeast at Brixton the Sun- 
day before, and out of twelve that spoke, eleven 
enjoyed entire sanctification. What a blessing! 
Glory be to God ! But I don't enjoy it. I find 

it is enjoyed by some in the institution: 

professed it to-night in the class-meeting, and I 

believe is near to the kingdom of God. 

Lord, help me ! I am far from it yet. 

" Thursday r , 24. I have had a better day, I 
think, although I am far from being happy. But 
I do not expect to be very happy until I get 
fully sanctified. I seem to be a long way from 
the kingdom of God. I know it is my privilege. 
Lord, quicken me, for thy name's sake ! Amen. 

"Monday, 28. I bless my God for his 
goodness to me. If I have not very much de- 
ceived myself, I have had a good day to-day. I 
was at "Waltham Abbey yesterday and at Cop- 
thall. I preached in the morning from, ' We 
love him, because he first loved us.' In the 
afternoon from, ' Be careful for nothing, 5 etc. 



PEOGEESS. 



55 



In the evening, Acts xiii, 38, 39. I had a good 
day, and hope I was made a blessing to the 
people. More of the young men are getting 
full salvation. Glory be to God! I hope I 
shall soon be one of them. Lord, help me ! 

" Tuesday ', 29. Thank God, I have had a 
good day to-day! I am getting nearer the 
kingdom of God, and I hope soon to enter in. 
I feel the Lord is ready to save me. There is 
a most blessed feeling among us in the institu- 
tion at this time. I hope the Lord will arise, 
and maintain his own work among us, and 
sanctify us all" 

The time now referred to was indeed memor- 
able at Hoxton. Not long before, the Rev. John 
M'Lean had visited the institution, and address- 
ed the students in his own warm, earnest way. 
His appeal went on sounding in the hearts of 
his hearers after he had gone, and day by day 
they were roused more fully. It was evident 
that a fresh power was at work, quietly but 
certainly, among the men. When they met 
they wore a more serious look; and, passing 
by the study doors, one might have heard from 
some of the rooms the suppressed pleadings of 
a man in an agony of prayer. At the house- 
hold worship, morning and evening, the same 
power showed itself in the intense feeling with 
which the hymn was sung, and which caused 



56 A MXSSIONABY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



many a response to the petitions of the student 
whose turn it was to conduct the service. Then 
at the class-meeting, one day, a brother praised 
the Lord, and told how he felt that " the blood 
of Jesus Christ his Son cleansed from all sin." 
That thanksgiving cheered on several who had 
been secretly weeping before God and longing 
to be made holy. Then they were drawn to- 
gether by the common desire, and from one 
study and another there was heard the voice of 
those who cried after deliverance, and the ex- 
ulting praise of those who felt that now sin had 
no more bonds for them. Those were glorious 
days in the old institution house. Men got 
blessed there who have carried blessing .to many 
since. Hearts were hallowed there which have 
brought the same power of purifying into many 
a Church and many a home since. Arms got 
strengthened there for the work and the fight, 
in which they have wrought and battled as con- 
querors since. And some, in whose breasts the 
glory of the Most High then shone, wear that 
glory on their brows in paradise now. 

When the rich baptism came from heaven 
upon that band of students, John Hunt's heart 
opened to receive it. Of late he had been again 
and again troubled by finding that he had not 
lost all tendency toward former evil. Some- 
times such discoveries made him fear lest, after 



PEOGEESS. 



57 



all, he should become a castaway. He knew 
that the same grace which, through faith in Je- 
sus, had alread}^ changed his heart, while it 
brought remission of past sin, could also end the 
perpetual conflict by which only he had since 
kept his ground. He had Jcnown this long ; and 
now the time came when he wholly yielded him- 
self to the working of that grace. Let him tell 
the history of it himself : 

" I was praying in my closet, and saw very 
clearly that God's plan of saving was through 
faith in Jesus. I therefore came to the atone- 
ment just as I was, polluted indeed, but not so 
much so that the blood of Christ could not 
cleanse me. As soon as I ventured I found the 
Lord faithful to his promise, and the blood of 
Christ at that moment cleansed me from all sin. 
Since then (about three weeks before) I have 
had constant peace and sometimes ecstatic joy. 
I have felt no sin, and consequently have been 
preserved from those troubles which inbred cor- 
ruption used to cause. I now find daily what 
for years I have thought to be impossible, to live 
without condemnation. Thank God, all is peace, 
and calmness, and love ! I begin in the morn- 
ing to praise him the moment I rise, and thus 
endeavor to begin, continue, and end the day 
with God. 

"I think it is possible to receive fresh bless- 



58 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



ings every moment, and to honor God every mo- 
ment. Why not? Glory to God! it must be 
his will ; and if it be my desire and I have 
faith, I see nothing to withstand it." 

This great religious quickening at the institu- 
tion was no passing excitement, and its effect 
was far more than the introduction of an enthu- 
siastic mysticism among the students. The con- 
gregations before which they had to minister 
felt that a new pewer was upon the young men 
at Hoxton ; and much Church indifference was 
disturbed, and many sinners awakened by their 
preaching. Instead of yielding to the thought 
that they must wait until their full ministerial 
employment for opportunities of general useful- 
ness, the brightened light within them showed 
them the evil and wretchedness which were in 
their own neighborhood. So they took the poor- 
er districts as the scene of work, and using the 
offer of a tract as an introduction, went from 
house to house trying to do good, and not with- 
out marked success. 

As the session wore on, John Hunt, with his 
heart overflowing with holy joy, grew rapidly in 
all knowledge. Already there was a great out- 
ward change in him. Much of his roughness 
had gone ; but all the sterling worth of the man 
remained uninjured. His appearance, manner, 
and dress were in keeping with his character. 



PKOGBESS. 



59 



As he stood up to preach, everything about him 
struck the observers with the idea of power. 
His tall and well-proportioned frame — massive, 
but not stout, broad of chest and large of limb — 
was the true type of the soul within. When he 
spoke, good and solid thoughts came forth, with 
natural utterance, in plain, manly speech, sinewy 
and strong; no affectation, no tinsel, nothing 
wxak, nothing small. Yet, with all this power, 
there was nothing unwieldy or vulgar. True, it 
w T anted no keen critic to discover whence he 
came ; for his words had a northern sound about 
them, and the preacher had something of the 
farmer-look still ; but his frank, expressive face 
had become pale with thought and hard study, 
and there was a masterly light in his clear, 
steady eye that commanded respect. And as 
he went on, warming as he preached, how that 
eye would flame sometimes ! and what a token 
of might was the stretching forth of that long 
arm ! and in every sentence or action there was 
a manly grace, as far from all coarseness as from 
a finicking dandyism. 

By his friends he was greatly loved. And 
no wonder. He was a man ; a man among the* 
crowds of the human race who call themselves 
men, and are not. For verily there are those 
who have naught of great manhood but the 
form ; and some have been thrust high up, and 



60 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



crowned with bay, or laurel, or gold, or other 
glitter, who would have to go back to childhood 
again to get a chance of becoming men. In vir- 
tue, then, of his simple manliness of character, 
John Hunt w r as greatly beloved. A cheery 
brightness made his face shine, and his whole 
manner was free and happy among friends ; 
though when, as sometimes it happened, he fell 
among grand people, he was manifestly ill at 
ease in the unaccustomed restraints of " compa- 
ny." But when at home, he was a companion 
and a friend to rejoice in. He looked at a sub- 
ject in a clear, common-sense fashion, and talked 
accordingly. No tinsel, frippery, or sham had 
any charms for him. He sought after the 
thoroughly good and real, and gathered a great 
store of such sterling wealth more quickly than 
most men. Yet he was by no means of that 
hard, cast-iron temperament which affects to de- 
spise the tender and beautiful. His heart readily 
softened into pity, and was made glad by beauty 
everywhere. Then, too, he spoke out with such 
an unmistakable clearness, and all the while 
looked at you with such a bright honesty, that 
you felt he could never deceive any one. Yet 
he w r as not one of those rude troublers of all 
peace who rejoice in wounding and disturbing 
by what they call their plainness, a decent name 
which they give to the barking of their currish 



PKOGRESS. 



61 



vulgarity. John Hunt had in him the essential 
principle of all true politeness, (a sensitive regard 
for the feelings of others,) in the absence of 
which, the elegances taught by professors and 
governesses are but a sorry makeshift. The pur- 
suit of a great object, and constant intercourse 
with the loftiest truths, raised the man, while the 
power of a deep and fervent piety made him 
fruitful in every good word and work. 

At the close of this second year's study Hunt 
passed his examinations with great credit, and 
was engaged during the vacation to work in the 
Oxford circuit for some weeks. Before leaving 
Hoxton he was glad to learn that he would 
probably return there, and continue his studies 
until the time came for him to go abroad. 
Toward that time he looked with longing. 
Nothing bent his first missionary purpose, and 
daily he prayed for fitness to preach the Gospel 
in Africa. 

"I am now T ," he writes to a friend, "as you 
see, at the grand city of Oxford. It is a most 
beautiful place, to be sure. I think God is 
making me a blessing to the people here. The 
congregations in Oxford, and in the country 
places too, have increased much, and there is 
certainly a deeper interest felt in religious things. 
I have all the respect that I can possibly desire ; 
but I want to see a more signal work of God. 



62 A MISSION AEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

I thank my God, for myself, I continue to give 
myself to him, and he gives his . blessing to me. 
Last night we had a missionary tea-meeting, and 
I got almost to the top of my missionary feeling. 
"We had a very affecting time indeed, and I 
trust the fruits of it will be seen another day. 
I think I can say my heart is more than ever in 
the missionary work. I have been rather pained 
of late to find people so anxious to keep me at 
home. I give them credit for their affection 
and motives, but not for the simplicity of their 
religion. I think true religion is truly mission- 
ary, and am glad for the heathen to have the 
Gospel at any price." 

Elsewhere he says : " I think I have not made 
holiness so prominent as I should have done. I 
intend to preach on the subject to-morrow if all 
be well. I suppose some here are opposed to 
the doctrine or to the manner of stating it. I 
am only anxious to be faithful and useful. I 
think the greater part of the people here are 
right-hearted. I trust we shall have a blessed 
work of God. I do not think it will be so un- 
less they have an increase of holiness. Lord, 
help me ! I pray for an increase myself ; this 
is the first step to a revival of God's work." 

In August Mr. Hunt returned to Hoxton, full 
of affectionate regard for " the dear people at 
Oxford," of whose kindness he spoke in the 



PEOGEESS. 



63 



strongest terms. The remaining months of the 
year were spent in hard study and frequent 
preaching. In all his laborious preparation, 
Africa was uppermost in his thoughts, and he 
worked on to get his mind more fully furnished 
and equipped, while he liked to think that his 
agricultural knowledge would help him to raise 
the condition of the Kaffirs. 

At this period his public advocacy of Chris- 
tian missions is worthy of note. His speeches 
on this great subject were very telling, and left 
a deep impression on his hearers ; the effect of 
which was seen in much of that intense interest 
which was universally felt in the mission of 
which Mr. Hunt afterward became such a dis- 
tinguished member. 



64 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



CHAPTEE VI. 

MISSION APPOINTMENT. 

u Pity poor Fiji " — Test — Triumph — Leaving Hoxton — Visit to 
Lincolnshire — Marriage — Colleagues — Ordination — Letter to 
Dr. Hannah. 

While Hunt's heart and mind were fixed on 
Africa, as the place of his future service, a great 
cry reached England from the far Pacific. In 
Tonga and the Friendly Islands the Wesleyan 
missionaries had been at work for some time, 
and with great success. Within two hundred 
and fifty miles of these islands lay the larger and 
more important group of Fiji, which was fre- 
quently visited, in the way of trade, by the Ton- 
gans, who brought back horrible tales of what 
they saw and heard. After a time two mission- 
aries were sent from the Friendly Islands, to try 
to open a mission in Fiji. They soon found that 
but a little had been told of the dreadful con- 
dition of this group, where the most revolting 
cruelties and systematic cannibalism were all 
but universal. Then was sent to England that 
appeal, " Pity poor Fiji," which was issued from 
the Wesleyan mission house, and stirred the 
Methodist societies throughout the kingdom. It 
awoke the strongest feeling among the young 



MISSION APPOINTMENT. 



65 



men at Hoxton, and Hunt felt as much as any ; 
but still he regarded it as a settled thing that he 
was to go to Africa. In the beginning of Feb- 
ruary, 1838, he received a summons to the mis- 
sion house, where he was asked whether he 
would go to Fiji. Startled at such an unexpect- 
ed request, he returned to Hoxton much troubled, 
and, making his way to the room of a fellow- 
gtudent, said, with quick, excited tones : 

" They have proposed that I go to Fiji." 

His friend felt almost shocked at this sudden 
announcement, and deeply sympathized with 
Hunt, whose whole frame seemed writhing with 
an emotion he had never shown before. He ex- 
pressed this sympathy, and spoke of the perils 
and hardships of a mission to those cannibals. 

" O that's not it !" exclaimed the other, almost 
passionately. 

" What is it, then ?" Hunt's strong form was 
almost convulsed by some intense feeling. At 
last he said : 

" I'll tell you what it is. That poor girl in 
Lincolnshire will never go with me to Fiji ; her 
mother will never consent!" 

It was with no craven fear that the young 
man trembled, but with the yearning of his 
great heart toward her he had faithfully loved 
for the last six years, and who had nobly con- 
sented to share the missionary's life anywhere. 



66 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

But the dreadful things just heard about Fiji 
made him fear on account of that gentler one 
who so long had leaned on his strong love. His 
friend advised him to write at once to Miss 
Summers, who was then at Leeds on a visit, and 
to all who were concerned ; and trust in that 
God who, if he gave the call, would also make 
the way plain. And, feeling the matter to be 
too great to admit of anything but simple plain- 
ness, he sat down and wrote to " that poor girl 
in Lincolnshire " as follows : 

" My Deak Hannah, 

" I have some strange news to tell you, and I 
am not able to use many words in making it 
known ; you must therefore excuse my abrupt- 
ness. I have been fixed upon by the missionary 
committee to go to the South Seas. Tou must 
therefore immediately return home, and make 
preparations for becoming a missionary's wife to 
a most remote station for twenty years. JRo 
one knows my feelings, dear, for our dear friends. 
I hope the Lord, who has led us hitherto, will 
still guide and help us. I never had such diffi- 
culty in seeing my way. I believe it is of God ; 
it is entirely unsought for by me. I need say 
no more. May our God help us and bless us in 
this most important and distressing affair! I 
shall be at Newton, if possible, on Thursday. I 



MISSION APPOINTMENT. 



67 



hope to see my dear — my more than ever dear — 
Hannah at the same time. We have only a 
month or five weeks for everything. God bless 
my dear ! " J. Hunt." 

Whatever doubts the writer of this letter had, 
it is clear that he had none concerning her to 
whom he wrote. Their mutual love had been 
consecrated, as their earliest offering, to God, 
without anv conditions, and both hearts were too 
true to draw back. Thus, when Mr. Hunt 
wrote, it never entered his mind to ask any 
opinion ; but he simply stated the decision of 
those whom he felt bound to obey, confident 
that she who had promised to become the mis- 
sionary's wife would not fail him now. Yet 
others might seek to put difficulties in the way ; 
and, until the answer came, Hunt went about 
among the students wearing an appearance of 
dejection, at which they wondered. After a 
little while he hastened to the friend to whom 
he had confided his fears, and, with a bright 
face and cheery voice, cried out, 

"It's all right! She'll go with me any- 
where !" 

There are some, yes, many, " who profess 
and call themselves Christians," who would not 
have hesitated to tell Miss Summers that she 
would be justified in refusing to go. She had 

Missionary among Cannibals, 5 



68 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



been brought up in comfort ; she was not of ro- 
bust health ; and the privations and dangers of 
such a mission as that to Fiji were very great; 
and there are many Christian parents who 
would have refused a daughter for such a work. 
Their children, genteelly religious, may take a 
Sunday-school class, or a tract district ; but what 
is to become of their expensive education, and 
their elegant accomplishments, if they go to 
some foreign mission station? So they must 
stay at home, and practice Christianity made 
easy. Yerily, they have their reward. Poor 
things ! it might have been greater if they had 
been less respectable. 

Within a few days Mr. Hunt's appointment to 
Fiji was settled; and before the meeting of the 
committee where the formal decision was given, 
he had so fully made up his mind that he was to 
go, that he packed up his books and clothes 
ready to start at once for Lincolnshire. The 
parting with his fellow-students was hard work. 
"They seemed," he says, "as if they could not 
let me go, such was their affection. They made 
me a present of Bloomfield's Testament and 
Robinson's Lexicon, and left a deep impression 
on my mind of their sincere love to me. This 
was all pleasing to me, and will serve, in my 
future life, to unite me to the institution in 
affection and in prayer. We had a prayer-meet- 



MISSION APPOINTMENT. 



69 



ing before we parted ; and a melting time it 
was to us all, and to me in particular." 

About one o'clock on the 14th of February 
the formal decision of the committee was given ; 
and by half-past two Hunt was on the coach 
starting for home. Before five o'clock the next 
morning he alighted at the toll-gate near Balber- 
ton. He knew the man at the gate as a fellow- 
Christian, and had written, intrusting to him the 
task of telling the news about his appointment 
to the folks at home. This duty had been 
judiciously performed ; and after making some 
inquiries, and resting a while, the traveler has- 
tened to visit his parents, whom he found calmer 
than he expected. 

The next fortnight was spent among his old 
friends in Lincolnshire. He preached nearly 
every night, and sometimes in the morning as 
well; but wherever it was, and at whatever 
time, the people crowded to hear him. He 
writes : " My message was received with glad- 
ness, and much good was done. Blessed be 
God !" 

Neither were more substantial marks of esteem 
wanting ; for contributions to the missionary's 
outfit came in on all hands, so that he describes 
himself as " laden with gifts." 

On March 6 Mr. Hunt married Miss Sum- 
mers, of Newton-on-Trent ; and in a few days 



70 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



after brought her to London, to make final ar- 
rangements for their departure. 

The stirring appeal, "Pity poor Fiji," had 
wrought more than excitement among those 
who heard. New and enlarged contributions 
were frequent ; and a good lady in Lincolnshire, 
Mrs. Brackenbury, of Eaithby Hall, guaranteed 
the expenses of Mr. Hunt's outfit and passage. 
The same lady nobly promised to pay £50 an- 
nually, for three years, toward his support, if 
the committee would send out two missionaries 
with him, instead of one, as they had resolved. 
Another was forthwith selected ; and James 
Calvert, who had been, for a short time, at Hox- 
ton, was appointed to accompany Messrs. Hunt 
and Jaggar to Fiji. 

On the 27th of March the young missionaries 
were solemnly ordained in the Wesleyan chapel 
at Hackney, and many an overflowing heart 
wished them Godspeed. About three weeks 
after the whole party left for Gravesend, ac- 
companied by the four general secretaries. Two 
days before embarking, Mr. Hunt, writing to 
his beloved tutor, Dr. Hannah, on several sub- 
jects, ended his letter in this characteristic way: 

"Accept of filial love to yourself and Mrs. 
Hannah. Love also to your dear family. I 
claim you as my father ; and I humbly demand 



MISSION APPOINTMENT. 



71 



that, when you bless your numerous children, 
some natural, others spiritual, and others minis- 
terial, whom you nourish and feed, you will 'bless 
me, even me also, O my father!' Let me have 
your blessing, your paternal blessing. At your 
family altar, where your heart beats highest with 
fervent affection, there remember me and mine. 

" I am, and ever shall be, your affectionate 
son, " J. Hunt," 



72 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS 



CHAPTER VII. 

DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL. 

Voyage out — Sydney — United Farewell Service — " Letitia " — 
Tonga — Arrival in Fiji — First District Meeting — Appoint- 
ment to Eewa. 

On the 29th of April, 1838, the mission party 
sailed for Sydney, followed by many an earnest 
prayer for their safety and happiness. Nothing- 
worthy of note occurred during the voyage. Mr. 
Hunt spent the time on board in diligent study ; 
a thing which many have resolved to do in like 
circumstances, but few accomplish it. Family 
prayer was held in the cabin morning and 
evening, and preaching twice on the Sunday. 
Among the mission party, class-meetings were 
regularly held, much to their enjoyment and 
profit. In all these services Mr. Hunt took a 
prominent part. Every one on board respected 
and loved him, and he tried to do all the good 
he was able among the sailors as well as the 
passengers. 

On August 24c the vessel anchored at Syd- 
ney, and the mission party received a hearty 
welcome from their brethren M'Kenny and Wat- 
kin. Mr. Hunt and his companions remained in 
the colony about two months, during which time 



DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL. 73 



they visited the principal towns, and attended 
missionary meetings, and preached in the differ- 
ent chapels. Here they were afresh strength- 
ened for their work, and cheered by the evident 
success of their efforts. The good people in 
Australia were delighted with their visitors, and 
Mr. Hunt soon became as great a favorite there 
as he had been in England. In the colony, too, 
were some who, like those at home, would 
fain have held back the missionary from his 
special work. The inducements offered to Mr. 
Hunt to remain in Australia were made as 
tempting as they could be. Why should he go 
any further ? Here was abundant opportunity 
for useful work. He had already had a long 
voyage, quite long enough to constitute him a 
missionary. If he would stay in the colony he 
should have every comfort secured to him ; but 
at Fiji, among those disgusting savages, he would 
have to lead a miserably uncomfortable life ; his 
dear young wife there, not very strong, w^ould 
be exposed to suffering and insult, and the peo- 
ple yonder were by no means particular as to 
whom they clubbed and cooked. But all this 
cost had long since been reckoned ; and they 
little knew the man they dealt with who thought 
to keep John Hunt back from his duty by any 
forebodings of difficulty, or allurements of per- 
sonal comfort. The motives which directed his 



14: A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

conduct were far beyond the reach of caprice; 
and he could not regard his commission to 
preach to the cannibals the unsearchable riches 
of Christ, as a matter for him to play with just 
as people chose. He valued the affection of 
those who would have seduced him from his 
right path ; but he thought no more of their 
religious principle than he would of that of a 
missionary who would have forsaken the island 
work, while comforting his conscience with some 
such cordial as " a wider field of usefulness in 
the colony." 

On October 25, 1838, the missionaries left 
Sydney. The He v. John Williams, of the Lon- 
don Missionary Society, who soon afterward 
lost his life among the cannibals of Erromanga, 
sailed with a party of fellow-laborers on the 
same day. On the previous evening a united 
farewell service, at which all the missionaries 
with their respective friends were present, was 
held in the Baptist chapel. The two vessels lay 
several miles off, near the Sydney Heads, and 
the two missionary companies went in the same 
steamer to join them. Many loving friends ac- 
companied them thus far, and many more part- 
ed with them on the shore, with tears and the 
breathing of earnest blessing. The time on 
board the steamer was spent in singing and 
prayer, and with such fitting dismissal the 



DEPARTURE AND ARRIVAL. 75 



missionary bands set out on their great enter- 
prise. 

The party bound for Fiji embarked on board 
the " Letitia," a small and shaky schooner of 
seventy-three tons' burden. The accommoda- 
tion was of a very miserable kind, and the pas-, 
sengers had hard times of privation and incon- 
venience for twenty-six days, after which they 
reached Tonga. During a stay of about ten 
days in the Friendly Islands they supplied the 
mission there with fresh stores, and visited the 
principal stations ; and being made glad by the 
greeting of the brethren at work in the Islands, 
and by witnessing the renewed wonders of the 
Gospel among the people, they left for Fiji on 
the 19th of December, and anchored off Lakemba 
on Saturday, December 22. The next morning 
the whole party came ashore, and spent thank- 
fully their first Sunday in Fiji. 

Within the next few days the missionaries 
held the first Fiji district meeting, under the 
direction of the Rev. David Cargill, M.A., who 
had been on the station for about three years. 
The important question of the most efficient dis- 
posal of the reinforcement was well considered ; 
and taking into account the inexperience of the 
new comers, it. was resolved that no fresh station 
should be tried for the present. Mr. Cross, the 
companion of Mr. Cargill in the opening of the 



76 A MISSIONABY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



mission, was now ill at Rewa, and had received 
permission to remove to Australia. His place 
Lad to be supplied. Eewa was a long way off, 
on Yiti Levu, at the other side of the group. 
It was no light matter for a young man to go 
there with bis young wife, to live alone among 
a savage people, of whose manners and language 
they were altogether ignorant. Mr. Hunt was 
requested to undertake this service, and forth- 
with gave his consent. 



MISSION WOEK EEWA. 



11 



CHAPTER YIII. 

MISSION TVOEK EEWA. 

Entrance on actual Work — First Attempt at Preaching in Fijian — 
Flood — Progress in the Language — Namosimalua — A Priest's 
Dream — Return of the King — Tokens of Success — Intimacy 
with the Natives — Appointment to Somosomo — Visit to Viwa 
— First Attempt at Translating — Reading — Persecution — 
Sympathy. 

On January 3, 1839, Mr. and Mrs. Hunt sail- 
ed from Lakemba in the " Letitia," which steer- 
ed for Moala, an island about half-way to Rewa, 
at which the captain wished to trade. The na- 
tives, however, refused to have any intercourse 
with their visitors, so that, after.standing off and 
on for some time, the vessel sailed for Rewa. 
The cause of the captain's disappointment prov- 
ed a great advantage to his passengers ; for on 
reaching the Rewa roads, on the 7th, they found 
that, had they been a day later, they could not 
have landed their goods for some time, as the 
king was about starting, with all his canoes, 
to attend a feast at the island of Kandavu. 

On this memorable day, the date of Mr. 
Hunt's entering on his actual work, he thus 
writes in his Journal : " Jan. 7, 1838. This 
morning we came in sight of Rewa, and in the 
afternoon anchored safely in our ' desired haven.' 



18 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



"We have long and anxiously looked for it ; and 
for apparent wretchedness, it comes up to all 
our preconceived notions.* Our anchorage was 
about five or six miles from the mission station, 
our w 7 ay to which was up a most beautiful river, 
said to be more than one hundred miles long. 
The island looked exceedingly lovely as we sail- 
ed along the winding stream. Nature all ap- 
peared charming till we saw the masterpiece, 
man ; and a sight — and especially the first sight — ■ 
of a Fijian is very appalling. The people were 
much surprised to see us come ; and stood near- 
ly naked, staring and shouting with astonish- 
ment, as we passed. Mrs. Hunt, especially, was 
an object of wonder, as many of the natives had 
only seen one w T hite woman before." On reach- 
ing the station Mr. Hunt found that Mr. Cross's 
health was so far improved that he had resolved 
not to leave, but to stay as long as possible to 
help the younger missionary, whose heart was 
much lightened by this decision. 

The same evening they called on the king of 
Kewa, wlio kindly undertook to land their goods 
on the following day ; and though the distance 
was so great, and there were seven or eight ca- 
noe-loads, yet all came safely ashore before the 

* Kewa, at this time, presented a very cheerless appearance, as 
a great part of the town had been destroyed by fire, and was not 
then properly rebuilt. 



MISSION WORK HEW A. 



79 



next night. Mr. Hunt says: "I never saw such 
dispatch at any of the other islands. We 
brought a Fijian with us from Tonga who had 
embraced Christianity, and his application to 
his book was most gratifying. He might have 
been making some Newtonian discovery, he was 
so intent on learning to read. He was making 
a discovery of greater importance — 4 that Christ 
Jesus came into the w T orld to save sinners.' O 
that every Fijian knew this glorious truth !" 

Mr. Hunt began his missionary work with all 
the earnestness of his character controlled and 
directed by the strongest religious devotion. 
Writing at this period of his history, he speaks 
of himself as " determined by God's grace to 
live entirely to his glory, and the advancement 
of his blessed cause." How unwaveringly he 
kept to that determination the following pages 
will tell. 

While establishing his home among the peo- 
ple of Rewa, the new missionary set himself 
diligently to learn their language. Day by day 
he received fresh and terrible proofs of the deg- 
radation and cruelty of those among whom he 
had come to dwell ; and every discovery of this 
kind made his longing more intense to be able 
to communicate the treasures of purity and love 
of which his own heart was so full. His first 
attempt to address the people in their own lan- 



80 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

guage was made in about a month after his ar- 
rival, and the event is thus recorded in his 
journal : 

" Feb. 18. Last Wednesday, Mr. Cross having 
gone to Mbau, I had to take the service in the 
afternoon. I had composed a sermon, intending 
to preach a week before ; but the rain prevent- 
ed. Of course I had to read nearly the whole 
of my sermon ; but the people were, in general, 
very attentive, and I had, for the first, a com- 
fortable time." 

Frightful accounts of cruelty, butchery, and 
cannibalism frequently reached the station, or 
came under the actual observation of the mis- 
sionaries, soon proving that, much as they had 
heard, the half of Fiji's horrors had not been 
told. Amid it all, Mr. Hunt writes : 

" I feel myself saved from almost all fear, 
though surrounded with men who have scarcely 
any regard for human life. We are in the hands 
of a God whom even the heathen fear when 
they hear of him. The people at Lakemba say 
that their god has actually left the island, be- 
cause our God has beaten him till his bones are 
sore ! The people are really afraid for the safety 
of their gods, and some of them have an idea 
that Christianity will prevail. The king says 
it must be so ; ' for who can stop it ? It will be 
the religion of all.' " 



MISSION WORK EEWA. 



81 



A week after his first attempt Mr. Hunt 
preached again " with some comfort," and found 
himself able to say a little without notes, "but," 
he simply remarks, "perhaps not very correctly." 
It was an advantage that, while he was thus 
stumbling through his first efforts in speaking 
the native tongue, the king and chiefs continued 
at the feast at Kandavu ; so that the congrega- 
tions before whom he practiced was scanty, and 
composed of the commoner sort of people. 

In the early part of March a heavy rain fell, 
and the river became so swollen as to overspread 
the country for a considerable distance. The 
mission-house, which was built on a raised ter- 
race, was surrounded w 7 ith water, and the ser- 
vants were able to swim in the garden. 

Under the datq of March 18 Mr. Hunt says : 
" I am able now to take two or three services in 
a week. I have to use rather copious notes ; 
but intend to do this for some time to come, as 
they will do for the people to read after they 
have heard them until they can have something 
better. 

" I want much more religion. There is need, 
in preaching, of the power which is necessary 
to make it the sword of the Spirit, and ' the 
power of God unto salvation.' I believe that 
this increase of power will be given when I 
have more of the Spirit myself. I desire and 



82 A MISSIONARY AMONG- CANNIBALS. 



determine to make known nothing among the 
poor Fijians but 'Christ and him crucified.' O 
that my speech and my preaching may be 
with the demonstration of the Spirit and with 
power !" 

Just before Mr. Hunt's arrival in Fiji a pro- 
fession of Christianity had been made by Na- 
mosimalua, chief of Viwa, a small but import- 
ant island off the coast of great Fiji, on which 
Rewa is situated. Kamosimalua had been one 
of the greatest monsters of crime that ever Fiji 
produced, and hundreds of men and women 
had fallen beneath his club. There was never 
any ground for hope that this man had become 
converted; yet his profession of religion was 
certainly attended by the giving up of many of 
his evil practices, while he at times warmly es- 
poused the cause of Christianity. What his 
actual state of heart was may be judged from 
the following fact. He ordered a chapel to be 
built on his island, the site chosen for which 
was a plot sacred to the old religion, and sacred 
trees, growing there, were cut down to make 
posts for the new building. At first he deter- 
mined that none but the Lotu people, or Chris- 
tians, should help in the work ; but afterward 
the assistance of the people generally was so- 
licited, with an intimation that if they refused 
they should be trampled to death ! When the 



MISSION WOEK REWA. 



83 



chapel was finished, the chief thought it im- 
portant that a large flag should be attached to 
a neighboring tree, with something painted on 
it vaka Papalangi, in English style. 

Whatever was the personal state of Namosi- 
malua, his countenance and help were of great 
use to the mission, and there were already forty 
persons in Yiwa who professed to be Christian. 
In Eewa, also, the power of the Gospel w T as 
beginning to be felt. Several poor creatures 
were saved from being buried alive, and the 
missionaries were encouraged by seeing the in- 
direct influence of the truth. 

A priest had a dream, which he published, to 
the following effect. His god came to him and 
told him that he was going to leave the land. 
He was not afraid, he said, when Mr. Cross was 
alone, for he thought it possible for them all to 
live together ; but now Mr. Hunt had come he 
was very much afraid, for Mr. Hunt was so 
very tall. He feared that he should be killed 
if he remained at Eewa, so he was preparing to 
leave at once. 

On the 2d of April the king and his retinue 
returned from Kandavu. The occasion was 
celebrated with all Fijian pomp. About twenty 
gayly decked canoes — some of them very large 
—passed up the river with the king, who was 
accompanied by nearly a thousand men, whose 

Missionary among Cannibals, Q 



84 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



immense white turbans, and fantastic folds of 
painted cloth, helped to make the spectacle 
more striking to the strangers, who had seen 
nothing like it before. In the afternoon the 
missionaries visited the king, and were well re- 
ceived. Taking the position lie assigned them 
near himself, they witnessed the ceremony of 
presenting food to the king and his party. Pro- 
visions in vast quantity and great variety were 
brought, with most scrupulous attention to pre- 
scribed form. Every attitude was in perfect 
order ; and, as many scores of bearers advanced 
and retired in long procession, every hand and 
foot was moved in strict conformity to the same 
rule. A dance then took place, performed by 
the ladies, surrounded by the admiring eyes of 
many hundreds of the people. But, according 
to Mr. Hunt's account, it must have been any- 
thing but an exciting affair. 

" The whole ceremony," he says, " consisted 
in taking a particular step very deliberately and 
uniformly, and in putting their hands into par- 
ticular postures. A company of well trained 
infantry could not be more exact in every move- 
ment either of the hand or foot." This lively 
exhibition lasted an hour, and finished the cere- 
monies of the day. 

In this great festival the missionaries receiv- 
ed every mark of respect from the king and his 



MISSION AVOEK REWA. 



85 



chiefs, and diligently used the advantage, then 
and afterward, to urge these men of influence 
to forsake their false and cruel religion and ac- 
cept the blessings of the Gospel. On the 15th 
of April Mr. Hunt writes : 

" I have preached at Singatoka this evening 
to a large congregation of natives, some of 
whom were very attentive, and most of them 
remained until the service was concluded. I 
endeavored to explain to them the nature of 
repentance and faith, and some of them seemed 
to understand what was said. 

" I am now in much favor with some of the 
chiefs. How long it will continue I know not. 
1 place no dependence on the friendship of hea- 
thens. Two of them, Thokonauto and Yativu- 
aka, call me their friend, and seem really to have 
a strong regard for me. I instruct them as much 
as I can in the religion of Christ, and they seem 
pleased with all they hear from me. Vativuaka 
went to the king the other day to ask whether 
it would not be better for them all to embrace 
Christianity. The king said Vativuaka might 
if he pleased ; but he — the king — must wait and 
look after the land. It appears that the greatest 
chiefs have not courage to embrace religion be- 
fore the king, and of course alb the people are 
of the same mind. Some of the chiefs assembled 
in the king's house the other day to consult 



86 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



about a feast, and one said they bad better begin 
by talking about Christianity. ' Are we to em- 
brace it? 5 he asked, c or are we to take all the 
people away V The king said, 4 Why talk about 
the Lotu?* Do you wish to LotuV Another 
chief said, 'You may all Loin* I alone will re- 
main. 5 This man and another have universally 
a bad reputation, and I am afraid will be very 
troublesome. The Lord has their hearts in his 
hand. It is rather remarkable that two of the 
worst men in Rewa have embraced Christianity : 
one, a most notorious man, some time since ; 
and very lately another, who, though a Tongan, 
is said to have eaten more men than any one in 
Fiji." 

The changed lives of such men as these could 
not but awaken interest and inquiry ; but the 
people were afraid to hear the missionaries, lest 
by listening they should seem to have gone over 
to the new religion, a step which few dared to 
take until their rulers set the example. 

Mr. Hunt worked on with unfailing diligence, 
striving, by hard study at home, and by fre- 
quent conversations with the people, to get a 
thorough knowledge of the language. Some- 
times the friendliness of the natives became a 
sore trouble. They are wondrously quick in 

* Lotu is the native word for " religion," but is now the name 
universally given to Christianity. 



MISSION WORK REWA. 87 



reading character, and soon found out the frank 
kindness and warm generosity of the mission- 
ary's heart. There never was a more thorough- 
ly unselfish man than John Hunt, or one who 
found it harder to say " no " to a plea for help. 
The natives knew it, and worked their knowl- 
edge as much to their own profit as his personal 
loss and the sacrifice of comfort at the mission- 
house. " We are much teased," he says, " with 
the visits of the people. They seem to think we 
have nothing to do but to talk to them." 

Such constant and familiar intercourse, how- 
ever, served to make Mr. Hunt better acquaint- 
ed with the true state of the people. And the 
more he knew, the more their burden of evil 
seemed to weigh down his own heart, and he 
toiled and prayed the harder, that he might gain 
power to spread in Fiji the Gospel of Christ. 
He thus meditates on the results of his inquiry : 

"Some have said that the Fijians are com- 
paratively a virtuous people. Those only have 
formed his opinion of them who have had only 
to buy their women and their turtle-shell for 
muskets and powder. We who have to convert 
them to Christianity find it very different. All 
the virtue they possess is a willingness to gratify 
the lusts of others when, in doing it, they can 
gratify their own. It is remarkable that those 
who talk the most about their virtue are the 



88 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



most afraid of them ; so that they dare not walk 
about among them unless well armed with pis- 
tols, cutlasses, etc." 

In the following month Messrs. Cargill and 
Calvert visited Rewa, to join the missionaries 
there in discussing some important affairs con- 
nected with the mission. The visit is thus re- 
corded by Mr. Hunt : 

"May 10. To-day we have the pleasure of 
seeing our brethren Cargill and Calvert from 
Lakemba. We heard last night that they were 
off Nukulau, and I hastened at once to fetch them 
in the canoe. My heart danced for joy on hear- 
ing of their arrival, and most gladly did we wel- 
come them to our shores. It has been agreed 
that I shall go to a new station, Somosomo. To 
this I have consented, trusting it is, as it seems 
to be, an opening of Providence. We have 
mentioned our going to some of the chiefs and 
people, who disapprove of it much." 

Toward the end of this month Mr. Hunt 
visited Yiwa, and the mission prospects con- 
tinued to brighten. The following is from his 
journal : 

"June 18. Since I wrote last a chief of some 
importance has embraced Christianity. This is 
good at this stage of our work, for we want a 
little influence. The people are much afraid of 
disobeying their chiefs ; and no wonder, for 



MISSION WORK EEWA. 



89 



they have not many degrees of punishment 
here ; most primes are capital." 

On the same day Mr. Hunt mentions his first 
attempt at the work of translating, in which he 
afterward reached such distinguished success, 
and by which he has blessed Fiji to the end of 
time. And concerning this work, thus writes 
the man who, not long before, followed the plow 
on a Lincolnshire farm : 

" I have now been in Eewa five months and 
a week, and begin to think it time I tried to 
translate a little. I commence with the Gospels, 
principally because I have more help in them 
than in any other part of the Scripture. I have 
a part done to my hand by Mr. Cross, and a 
translation in the Lakemba dialect by Mr. Car- 
gill. I don't intend to call any man master, but 
to think for myself. This has been my plan 
hitherto, and I intend to pursue it. My plan is 
this : 1. To read over the chapter for translating 
in the Greek Testament, and examine particu- 
larly any word about the meaning of which I 
have any doubt. I read Bloomfield's Notes, and 
Campbell's Translation, and any other books I 
have, to assist me in ascertaining the meaning of 
the text. 2. After having, as I think, mastered 
the chapter, I commence translating. I use as 
my standard for the text the Greek Testament, 
together with the English version ; and for the 



90 A MISSIOXAHY AMOXG CANNIBALS. 



translation, not any man exclusively, but myself, 
all the natives I can have access to, and the 
translations that have been already made." 

While thus engaged, Mr. Hunt gave attention 
to general reading, and was studying with great 
delight Blackstone's " Commentaries." He says, 
too, "I read an account of Byron the other day, 
and of Swift to-day." And then the Methodist 
missionary in Fiji goes on to moralize about, the 
lordly poet : " Poor Byron ! I pity him much. 
He lived a wretched life ; and the best proof 
one can have of such a man's unfitness for death 
is, that he thought himself tolerably well pre- 
pared. I feel determined to live nearer to God. 
I am beneath what I should be. I am not in a 
right element. I pray, and read, and write, and 
preach, and use all means perhaps ; but I do not 
use them in the Spirit. I want more Bible re- 
ligion. 'Full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,' 
is the character I aim at." 

Before long, the opposition which the truth is 
sure to provoke began to show itself in Rewa. 
The conversion of a chief of some influence has 
been mentioned just above. Another chief, of 
still higher rank, was offended at his decision, 
and charged one of the Christians with persuad- 
ing him. To punish this man, he went to his 
house and took away an ax and the greater 
part of his property. Shortly after the great 



MISSION WORK REWA. 



91 



man seemed to repent, and sent for the Christian 
to drink yaqona — the native grog — with him in 
token of peace, saying that he always felt un- 
happy when he had wronged the Christians. 
However, on the following Sunday the same 
chief sent to borrow an ax of the Tongan con- 
vert, who had formerly gained such celebrity as 
a cannibal. But now he was trying to conform 
to all the requirements of the religion which he 
had lately professed, and refused to lend the ax 
on the Sunday, but promised to let the messen- 
ger have it on the next day. This made the 
chief furious ; and he declared that he would 
have revenge, not only on the old Tongan, by 
taking- his ax by force, but by plundering all 
the Christians. In the middle of the night, 
therefore, he collected above five hundred men, 
and, putting himself at their, head, visited and 
robbed nearly every Lotu family in Rewa, tak- 
ing away all they possessed, except the grass on 
which their mats had been spread. It was con- 
sidered a wonderful thing that, where life was 
less respected than property, no one, in all this 
attack, w T as injured. The sufferers bore, with 
noble cheerfulness, "the spoiling of their goods." 
Mr. Hunt remarks : 

" The Fijians are naturally very covetous, and 
for them willingly to part with anything is quite 
contrary to their nature ; and I believe nothing 



92 A MISSIOKAEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



would have enabled them to do so but the grace 
of God. I am thankful, for this as well as for 
other reasons, that the thing has happened, as it 
has given me the opportunity of seeing Fiji 
Christians in the fire, and, all glory to the God 
of grace! they bear the test well. 

"I am thankful, on another account, that we 
have had this persecution. It has led me to 
examine my own heart before 'God ; and the 
result has been that I have humbled myself be- 
fore him, and have determined to trust more 
fully in the cleansing, as well as the atoning 
blood of Christ, and to devote myself in heart, 
and mind, and soul more fully to God." 

The missionaries went to the king to complain 
of the outrage which had been committed. He 
was very angry about it ; and the chief — his own 
brother — who had perpetrated the offense, was 
severely reproved. This, however, only tended 
to irritate him yet more, so that, in the king's 
presence, he threatened the missionaries ; at 
which the king was very much enraged, and, 
giving his brother a club, seized one himself, and 
prepared to fight. The chiefs present now inter- 
fered ; but the king said significantly to his 
brother, "If you injure the missionaries I will 
begin to eat chiefs." All knew the meaning of 
the threat, and the offender was much alarmed, 
and begged to be forgiven. 



MISSION WORK REWA. 93 



u We have had," writes Mr. Hunt, "many 
an anxious hour during the trials of our faith. 
"We know so much of the native character as to 
know that we need always to be ready to part 
with our property and our lives too. We have 
endeavored to turn our care into prayer; and 
God has, in some measure, sanctified our sor- 
row and anxiety by turning our mourning into 

The following extract shows what skill Mr. 
Hunt had in giving comfort to those who suf- 
fered. It is from a letter written to Mr. Calvert, 
who was then at Lakemba, passing through 
trouble : 

" We are very glad to learn, from the note we 
have received to-day, that your minds are kept 
in peace, and that you c possess your souls in 
patience.' 4 Let patience have her perfect work, 
that ye may be perfect and entire, lacking noth- 
ing. 5 The will of God is your entire salvation ; 
and sometimes the way to a full meetness for 
heaven, as well as to heaven itself, is through 
much tribulation. Indeed, those who have 
washed their robes and made them white in the 
blood of the Lamb, passed through their tribula- 
tion at the same time that, by faith, they wash- 
ed their robes ; and perhaps their tribulations 
were the principal means of bringing them to 
trust in the blood which cleanseth from all sin. 



94 A MI8SX0NAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

If our troubles are not equal to theirs, our bless- 
ings may be as great. We may possess the 
same purified nature, and be with them before 
the throne, and serve God day and night in his 
temple. 

"We feel much for our dear friends at La- 
kemba, and especially for Mrs. Calvert ; but we 
can only help you and them by our prayers. I 
have no doubt that all will be right. Duties are 
ours, events are God's." 



SOMOSOMO. 



95 



CHAPTER IX. 

SOMOSOMO. 

Ill Fame of the New Station — Miserable Passage — Cheerless Ee- 
ception — Mission-house — Horrible Scenes — Letter to Mr. Cal- 
vert — Affliction — An Evening Service — Death of the First- 
born—Letter to Mr. Cargill— Strangling — Trouble and An- 
noyance — Enduring Faith — Plan of Theological Study — Small 
Success — A Cannibal Feast — Danger and Deliverance — Chris- 
tian Love — Letters on Entire S an ctifi cation commenced — -Visit 
to Eewa — Extracts from Correspondence — Love to the Hea- 
then — War and Cannibalism — Domestic Affliction — Arrival 
of the " Triton" — Visitation Tour — Great Peril— Alarm at 
the Mission-house — Mrs. Hunt's Illness — Letter to Mr. Cal- 
vert — New Mission-house — Style of Preaching to the Natives 
— Divers Occupations — Appointment to Viwa — Sketch of the 
People — Eetrospect of the Mission. 

On July 15 the "Letitia" again arrived at 
Nukulau, which is off the entrance of the river 
leading to Eewa, bringing the missionaries who 
were to occupy the station on Mr. Hunt's re- 
moval, and work the printing-press which they 
brought with them. They were accompanied 
by Mr. Lyth, who had arrived from the Friendly 
Islands; and who, to Mr. Hunt's grea^t comfort, 
was to share the toil and danger of opening the 
Somosomo mission.* 

* Somosomo, a town of great importance, and one of the chief 
centers of power in Fiji, is built on the shore of the picturesque 
and fruitful island of Taviuni, which lies off the south-eastern ex- 
tremity of the large island of Vanua Levu. 



96 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



Mr. Hunt, though very poorly at the time, at 
once made active preparations for the removal. 
He felt some pain at leaving a people in whom 
he had taken great interest, to go to a place, the 
savage inhabitants of which were regarded, even 
in Fiji, with something of the same horror that 
the Fijians generally are thought of in England. 
This was entirely new ground for the mission ; 
for no Christian agent had visited it, and no one 
belonging to the place had joined the Lotu. 
Mr. Ly th says of it : 

"Its intercourse with the more frequented parts 
of the group was rare and uncertain, and ships 
seldom called there. No w T hite man, at the time 
of our arrival, resided on the island. One, a 
Scotchman, who had touched at a neighboring 
island, on his way from the windward to the 
leeward part of the group, had, but a short time 
previous to our coming, been barbarously mur- 
dered for the sake of the little property he pos- 
sessed." 

It was not likely that the knowledge of these 
facts would enliven the prospect of going to 
dwell at Somosomo. It was true that the king 
had begged that missionaries might come to his 
town ; but it was because he hoped they would 
bring good store of axes, hatchets, knives, and 
other articles of European manufacture, whereby 
he and his people should be enriched. The 



SOilOSOMO. 



97 



position, however, was very important. The 
chiefs of Somosomo ruled over many islands, and 
the authorized presence of missionaries at the 
head town would be the most efficient charter 
for the Lotu in all the tributary tribes. Then, 
too, those very horrors and abominations which 
would have supplied the best reason for not 
going near such a den of fiendish cannibals, also 
furnished the missionaries with the most power- 
ful motive to settle themselves there. The 
greater the evil, the more need of the cure ; so 
they went, and took with them the Gospel to 
Somosomo. 

Mr. Hunt, in telling how they regretted part- 
ing with the Rewa Christians, goes on to say : 
" But the difficulty of leaving Rewa and going 
to Somosomo only affected us as mortals : as 
missionaries we thought nothing of the priva- 
tions or trials we might have to endure. We 
expect to sow in tears, as confidently as we hope 
to reap in joy; and therefore trials and priva- 
tions are words seldom used by us, and things 
that are thought much more of by our dear 
friends at home than by ourselves." 

On the 22d of July Messrs. Lyth and Hunt, 
with their wives, embarked for the new station, 
accompanied by Mr. Cargill, and came to an- 
chor off Somosomo on the morning of the 29th. 
Mr. Hunt was very ill during the passage, and 



98 A MISSION AEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



all were about as uncomfortable as being shut 
in a wretched, filthy little schooner could make 
them. Moreover, the vessel had a steward who 
in all respects was as dirty as itself; and a cap- 
tain who got drunk on arrack, the fumes of 
which mingled with the foul stench of the hold, 
which had nothing to divide it from the cabin, 
where the missionaries and their wives spread 
mattresses over chests and boxes, and tried, with 
but sorry success, to sleep at night. Although 
the people had made such a stir about having 
the missionaries, yet, now that they were come, 
no one greeted them ; their arrival was treated 
with the coolest indifference as they went 
ashore and quietly made their way to the king's 
house. Here they found the king, Tuithakau, 
a fine old man, above seventy, with a frank and 
kind face ; and his son the regent, Tuikilakila, 
nearly forty years of age, and of almost gigan- 
tic stature and frame. The missionaries w 7 ere 
well received, and Tuikilakila at once, accom- 
panied them to mark out a site for their house. 
They then returned to the vessel, and spent the 
Sunday on board. The next morning they were 
all to land. Canoes filled with half-naked 
savages, the most ferocious cannibals in Fiji, 
crowded about the schooner, to the great terror 
of the captain and crew, who kept strict watch, 
with all the boarding nets up, over their .ill 



SOMOSOMO. 



99 



famed visitors. One canoe is brought close 
alongside to receive the mission party ; and as 
the ladies are lifted into it, men stand on deck 
at either side with loaded muskets and fixed 
bayonets, to keep off the people among whom 
those ladies and their husbands are going to live. 
All reached the shore safely, and what was more 
surprising, none of their goods w T ere stolen. 

For the temporary accommodation, as he said, 
of the visitors, the king gave them a large house 
of his own, which, by the help of Mr. Cargill 
and a carpenter from Rewa, they soon fitted with 
doors and windows. The house was divided 
into three principal rooms and a small study by 
partitions made of boxes, packing-cases, and 
mats ; and, says Mr. Hunt, " we were comfort- 
ably settled in our new house on the second 
day." And there they had to live for two years, 
during which time the king would not let them 
build a house for themselves. 

Very soon the missionaries had fearful proof 
that the reports they had heard about Somosomo 
were true. About the time of their arrival news 
came that Ra Mbithi, one of the king's sons, w r as 
lost at sea ; and it was forthwith ordered that all 
his wives should i>e strangled, that they might 
accompany him to the land of spirits. At once 
the missionaries entered upon their work of 
mercy, and went to the king, to pray for the 

Missionary among Cannibals, 7 



100 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



women's lives. Tuithakau was very angry at 
their interference, but consented to make fur- 
ther search, to ascertain whether the report of 
his son's death was true. It proved to be correct, 
and the women were doomed. Mr. Hunt plead- 
ed hard with the ruling chief, Tuikilakila, on 
behalf of his daughter, who was among the 
condemned ones ; but the only reply he could 
get was, " I have great love to my brother." 
The rest is thus told in his journal : 

" On the morning of August 8 we heard the 
cries of the poor females and their friends, and 
soon they were unmercifully strangled. We 
were obliged to be in the midst of it ; and truly 
their cries and wailings were awful. Soon after 
they were murdered, they were brought to be 
buried about twenty yards from our house." 

This slaughter of sixteen women was followed 
by a kind of festival, which lasted for several 
days and nights; and at midnight the inmates 
of the mission-house were startled by the hoarse 
blast of conchs, and the hideous yells and whoops 
of the dancers. Many men and women suffered 
the amputation of a finger-joint in connection 
with this festival ; and the whole concluded by 
the distribution, one afternoon, of one hundred 
baked pigs, one of which was sent to the mis- 
sionaries. 

The strangers continued to live peaceably in 



SOMOSOMO. 



101 



the king's house, and were treated kindly by 
the people; but their attempts to teach seemed 
of little avail. The old king, indeed, professed 
to be Lotto, though he never showed any good 
result from it. The people came willingly to 
hear preaching, and seemed attentive to the 
missionaries, who soon got hold of the peculiari- 
ties of the dialect. 

In a letter to Mr. Calvert, dated "August 7th," 
Mr. Hunt writes : " I have been reading the 
Life of the Rev. John Smith, and like it more 
and more. O what a blessed state of commun- 
ion with God did he maintain ! When I think 
of imbibing his spirit, the devil says : 4 It will 
not do for a missionary ; if you were in England 
it would be all right.' I know he is a liar ; yet 
I practically believe him. I am determined by 
the grace of God to try. Help me, my dear 
brother. We are engaged in a glorious w^ork : 
let us do it well. There is much to discourage 
us, but God is sufficient for all things. I feel 
for you now you are alone ; but remember your 
reward is increasing amazingly now you have 
these special trials. Do not let unbelief say, 
' Na} 7 , not for me ; I am so unfaithful.' Unbelief 
makes God a liar. Do not listen to it, my 
brother. i These light afflictions, which are but 
for a moment, work for us a far more exceeding 
and eternal weight of glory.' Tour perpetual 



102 A MISSKOTAEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



trial of being alone; alone, with a bad king; 
alone, without being thoroughly acquainted with 
the language ; alone, among thieves and rob- 
bers; will make your eternal reward much 
heavier in glory. Glory is worth the price. 
Cheer up ! God is with you, and he will yet 
make you c rejoice with joy unspeakable.' 

" I hope the Lord will spare your dear child 
to you. I shall often take her to the throne of 
grace. Tell her mother to give her to the Lord; 
and my prayer shall be, that she may hear the 
word of the Lord while she is but a child." 

As the year advanced, sorrows and troubles 
thickened about the missionaries. In September 
an epidemic influenza, of a very obstinate kind, 
visited Somosomo. As this broke out during 
the visit of some Tongan canoes, the people said 
angry things about it being the disease of the 
Lotu. Then Mrs. Hunt fell ill with the prevail- 
ing disease, and, before she recovered, was 
attacked with dysentery, which brought her 
very low, and made the prospect of her speedily 
becoming a mother very alarming. At this 
anxious time, the presence and affectionate at- 
tention of Mr. Lyth were an indescribable com- 
fort, as he had formerly been educated for the 
medical profession. Suich seasons as these prove 
the importance, nay, the necessity, of giving to 
missionaries a medical training, to such an ex- 



SOMOSO^IO. 



103 



tent, at least, as will enable them to treat ordi- 
nary cases. It was now a time of sore trial for 
Mr. Hunt. Writing about it to Mr. Calvert, he 
says : 

" I began to realize the sorrows of being left 
alone in this land of need with a feeling quite 
new to me. Weeping, a strange thing with me, 
began to be pleasant, and my mind was most 
severely agitated, though most divinely sup- 
ported." 

Earnest prayers were offered on behalf of the 
sufferer, and help came. The disease was 
checked, and the next day, Mr. Hunt says : 
" We forgot our sorrow for joy that a man was 
born into the world." 

But none of these things, deeply as they 
stirred the loving heart of the man, had any 
power to move the missionary from his great 
work. On the day when he received his first- 
born, as from God, after recording the event in 
his journal, he says: "I have not been able to 
do much this week in consequence of having to 
be nurse. It is some time since I had a good 
night's sleep ; but, 

4 Labor is rest, and pain is sweet, 
If thou, my God, art there.' 

" My dear w 7 ife is doing well, and I hope I 
shall soon be able to resume my translations, 
etc., with renewed diligence. I have done four 



104 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



or five chapters in a rough way. May God, 
even our own God, make us thankful for all his 
mercies, and continue to bless us, for his name's 
sake." 

The light which had gleamed in upon the 
anxious and fearful ones at the Mission-house 
was not to shine long. 

" October 7. We have had a week of severe 
trial: our little boy has been very ill. We have 
scarcely any hope of his recovery. It is a great 
trial to us to think of losing our dear babe ; but 
we must leave it with Him who cannot err. 

" Last night I preached from James i, 2-4. I 
trust that we shall be enabled to count it all joy 
when we fall into divers temptations. One of 
the greatest trials connected with losing our 
little boy will be the reproach which the hea- 
then will cast upon religion and us. I expect 
they will say to us, 'Where is now thy God V " 

The circumstances of that Sunday evening 
worship were altogether remarkable, having 
none of such common-place machinery of devo- 
tion as architectural beauty, or ceremonial pomp, 
or artistic aids to the service of God. In the 
middle of a great, gloomy house, nearly all roof, 
there was a chamber, divided from an apart- 
ment on either side by thin matting some six or 
or seven feet high. In this chamber stood the 
preacher with a visible congregation of two men, 



SOMOSOMO. 



105 



and an invisible audience of two women. His 
hearers whom he could see were Mr. Lyth, who 
had just been at the evening service of the 
natives, and Joseph Rees, a young Englishman, 
who owed his life to Mr. Hunt's coming between 
him and a furious chief, who had already broken 
his ribs. The two invisible listeners were the 
two missionaries' wives, each with a new-born 
child, Mrs. Hunt's child dying. Therefore the 
preacher spoke fitly and earnestly about the trial 
of faith ; and by that faith great peace and holy 
joy came to the worshipers, and the old thatched 
place seemed as near the gate of heaven where 
God gives alms as even a cathedral. 

In a letter to Mr. Calvert, written at this time, 
Mr. Hunt says, after stating that there was no 
hope of the babe's life : "Here then w T e are, my 
dear brother, in the furnace of affliction. But 
what ? Has God forsaken us ? O no ! Glory 
be to him, he is with us in all our afflictions, 
and will, in his own time and way, deliver 
us out of them all. We would not alter any- 
thing if we could. We only say, ' Thy will be 
done.' 

" My own mind has been prepared, in a cer- 
tain sense, for what has happened. I had long 
had an impression on my mind that some great 
trial awaited me ; but I looked for it from with- 
out. In this I was wrong. My mind, however, 



106 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

was somewhat prepared by such impressions, 
and the prayer to which they led, and for what 
may yet come. 'It is the Lord ; let him do what 
seemeth him good.' " 

On the 10th of October, after suffering for 
twelve days, the child died. Writing to Mr. 
Cargill, the father thus tells of his loss : 

" I was careful to have him baptized in the 
beginning of his illness, and his name was John. 
A perfect image of his father, according to his 
mother's opinion : and who would dispute the 
point? But this fair image of his father was 
torn from our fond embrace ; nay, not torn, but 
taken from our arms, into the arms of a father, 
who loves him more than we could, and who 
loves us, though he has deprived us of what he 
so kindly gave. Never shall I forget the patience 
with which his dear, tender-hearted mother bore 
this, as well as all the trials that preceded it. 
The only thing which revolted her was laying 
his dear body among the slain of Fiji. If he 
could have been buried in Tonga, or any Chris- 
tian land, the trial would have seemed much 
less. But another baptism of the Spirit enabled 
her to bear this also ; and before our child was 
taken from us, we had freely given him back to 
God. My mind is cheered with the hope that 
his body will rise with many who will be the 
children of our missionary toils in Fiji, and who 



SOMOSOMO. 



107 



will accompany him, and perhaps some of us, 
from this part of the world, to sit down in the 
kingdom of God. We laid his dear remains in 
our garden, and the king sent some of his first 
carpenters to build a nice house over the grave. 
Not a word have I heard said on the subject by 
way of reproach to religion." 

The grave of this little one was the first con- 
secrating of Fiji as the missionary's burial- 
ground. The soil has become very wealthy 
since then. 

After reviewing all the recent troubles, Mr. 
Hunt proceeds : " But we have had our bless- 
ings as well as our trials; and blessings with 
our trials and by means of our trials. We have 
had spiritual peace and prosperity; have become 
further instructed in the power and blessedness 
of religion, as well as the pleasure of seeing 
some promises of success in our work. The 
people have, in general, been very kind to us. 
They have attended to the means of Christian 
instruction with evident marks of pleasure and 
interest. They listen with great attention to 
the word of life, and many of them seem to 
understand much of the good tidings which we 
have brought. We have commenced our school, 
and it seems to promise well ; and we have made 
some attempts at enlarging our sphere of useful- 
ness. On the whole we thank God and take 



108 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



courage, praying for his abundant and continued 
blessing." 

The very next entry in the journal is this : 
" We have had another evidence to-day of 
what heathenism does for this people. A poor 
old woman, nearly dead with weakness and the 
infirmities of age, was strangled just before our 
door. Notwithstanding all this cruelty, they 
are kind to us." 

If a bright spot were to be found, Mr. Hunt 
would find it ; and many a cause of annoyance 
and even suffering is never mentioned in his 
journal. For some time the mission party were 
not allowed to put any fence round the house, 
or at the windows, which the heat compelled 
them to keep open. Thus all chance of privacy 
was lost; and the natives, led by curiosity or 
baser motives, stood at the open windows. 
Once, when Mrs. Hunt was bending over her 
dying babe, she looked up to see dark, savage 
faces, laughing and mocking at her anguish. 
Among other sources of trouble was the capri- 
cious temper of the tyrant chief, Tuikilakila. 
One day this great savage, in a flaming passion, 
flung open the mission-house door, crying out, 
"Au sa cudru sara ! — I am very angry !" He 
then seized Mr. Hunt and Mr. Lyth, one in each 
hand, and drew them toward the door, where 
he had left his club. But God took care of his 



SOMOSOMO. 



109 



servants. Their words prevailed, and the chief 
released them, striking Mr. Lyth contemptuously 
in the face as he did so. Thus the threatened 
violence was averted ; but these furious fits of 
passion on the part of the chief were very 
alarming. 

The friendship of the great man was some- 
times as annoying as his rage was terrible. For 
example, when the mission stores were very low, 
he would come and eat the meal which had 
been obtained with great difficulty ; or, when 
very gracious, he would kneel down, and thrust 
his face into that of the missionary, and, with 
expressive grimaces and remarks, watch the 
stranger's way of eating, while the plate was 
swept again and again by the observer's ample 
beard. 

It required a strong faith in the workers to 
keep to their work on this mission. In the 
midst of the worst abominations of Fiji they 
toiled on, and, but little success appearing, they 
hoped and trusted that there was good done 
which they could not yet see. To Mr. Hunt's 
earnest heart this must have been a sore trial, 
and he wrote : " Our prospects are rather mys- 
terious. The work of God is going on, I doubt 
not; but we have not much appearance of good." 
It was sowing-time ; and, as the precious seed 
fell and was hidden, the sowers watched, and 



110 A MISSIONARY AMONG- CANNIBALS. 

watched, eager to begin the ingathering. But 
the harvest was not to be yet. It was a time 
of discipline, which, by the long withholding 
of outward encouragement, strengthened the 
faith which it tried. Mr. Hunt persisted in 
believing, and his colleague says of him : " Such 
faith and patience, perseverance and equanimity, 
under circumstances so difficult, were highly 
characteristic of the man, and inspired all the 
rest with courage and with hopes of success." 
And again : " The want of direct fruit of our 
labors, of a spiritual kind, was greatly calculated 
to discourage and retard effort. But it had no 
such effect on my friend's mind. His motto 
was, ' Onward:' he looked at the promise of God, 
and believing that, depending on him, we should 
not labor in vain. He received every instance 
of indirect usefulness as an answer to prayer, 
and a pledge of future blessings. He pleaded 
w T ith God with holy boldness, and 6 against hope 
believed in hope.' The result was, that while 
all around us was wilderness, our own little 
inclosure was as a 4 field which the Lord had 
blessed.' I can never forget the happy seasons 
we enjoyed together in our social means of 
grace." 

The Lord had a great work for his servant to 
do hereafter. His hand was to give to the 
Fijians the 'New Testament in their own lan- 



SOMOSOMO. 



Ill 



guage ; and he had jet to stand in the highest 
places of that hard-fought mission field, and see 
renowned strongholds fall before him. Where- 
fore he was taken to Somosomo for a time, that 
he might gain power and skill. And here he 
worked with all his might. To Mr. Calvert he 
sent the following plan of theological study, 
which he himself was pursuing: 

"1. I think it of great importance to pay at- 
tention to studies of this kind in our own lan- 
guage. It will prevent our losing what we have 
spent much time and prayer in acquiring, and 
will greatly tend to our spiritual as well as men- 
tal improvement. 

" 2. I think it quite necessary to have a plan, 
in order to secure time and to save time ; for a 
good plan will do both. 

" 3. My plan is this : I devote every Saturday 
to this kind of work. I am not to be diverted 
from it by the multiplicity of other engagements. 
I am determined, when I am well, to devote 
this day to this work. But does not this inter- 
fere with my preparations for the Sabbath ? Not 
at all ; for I have two parts of every day: one 
to attend to any special work, and the other for 
such things as may be necessary. The morning 
is the time for one thing; the afternoon for 
many things. 

" 4. However excellent other works on theol- 



112 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

ogy may be, I can make best use of what I have 
studied. I therefore make my own notes of 
lectures my text-book. I am now going through 
the Epistle to the Romans. I rewrite my notes, 
and add anything I may be able to think for 
myself, as well as anything I can beg, borrow, 
or steal from others. I intend, by the help of 
God, to go through in this way all that I have 
of Dr. Hannah's. 

" 5. I have it in my mind to write a treatise 
on Christian Perfection. I intend to state the 
subject in a few short propositions, and then 
treat the Scripture proofs and illustrations his- 
torically. I then intend to explain and illustrate 
every passage in the Old and New Testaments, 
in which I think the doctrine of perfect love to 
God and man is contained. I turn my attention 
to the subject on my own account entirely. It 
has already been made a blessing to me, and I 
believe it will be ; and for this reason I pursue 
the subject, intending, by the blessing of God, 
not to be an author, but to gain personal im- 
provement in this great subject. 

" 6. I want to make for myself a table of 
contents of every chapter in the Bible, including 
the following particulars: 1st. A clear statement 
of the subject or subjects in each paragraph. 
£d. The aspect under w r hich it is there presented. 
3d, The spirit or strain of the sacred writer. 



SOMOSOMO. 



113 



This will assist me in understanding the word 
of God. 

"I must have something on hand to keep me 
right. I cannot live unless I am on full stretch. 
I get to reasoning and other useless things if I 
have not better employment. 

" Blessed be God, we have been wonderfully 
supported in our trials. The Lord has been 
nigh unto us, and I trust he has sanctified our 
troubles to us. I am more than ever convinced 
that religion is the proper remedy for man in 
his present state, and therefore I more heartily 
seek it, and more fervently recommend it to 
others. I am more than ever convinced that all 
the religion of the Bible is attainable by me, 
and all who believe, as I do, that it is necessary 
to eternal life. 

" We go on praying and preaching, sometimes 
to manjr, sometimes to few. What is in the 
future we cannot tell. 'Duties are ours; events 
are God's.' " 

At the close of 1839 there was not much to 
report concerning the Somosomo station. A 
building had been rudely fitted up for a chapel, 
and a regular order of public services was es- 
tablished. The missionaries had succeeded in 
saving the life of an old woman who was painted 
ready for strangling, and they had let no chance 
slip of teaching the people. Mr. Hunt had 



114 A MISSIONARY AMONG. CANNIBALS. 



completed a rough draft of the Gospel according 
to St. Matthew, in Fijian, and had translated 
Genesis and part of Exodus. 

At the beginning of 1840 things looked darker 
than ever at Somosomo. One day eleven dead 
men were dragged just in front of the mission- 
house. They had been killed at Lauthala, a 
iteighboring town, to avenge the murder of a 
Somosoman by some of the inhabitants. With 
exact and ceremonious order, the corpse of a 
chief was set apart for the god, and the others 
divided among the several tribes. The chief's 
body was quietly and skillfully cut in pieces 
within a few yards of the mission-house, and 
the other bodies were taken to different quarters 
of the town, where they were speedily cooked 
and eaten. The people seemed to become 
doubly savage after their horrid feast, and some 
of the chiefs came and tried hard to get up a 
quarrel with the missionaries, who for some time 
were nearly without food ; for the people feared 
to supply them, lest they should incur the wrath 
of their king. The missionaries applied to him 
again and again ; but they and their offerings 
were slighted. On one occasion the king said: 

" No, I will not let you have food. Jehovah 
may give you a pig.' 5 

When this answer was reported at the mission- 
house one of the party said : 



SOMOSOMO. 



115 



" Now I believe the Lord will make him give 
us food, since he himself has put us into the 
hands of God." 

And so it fell out. In a letter Mr. Hunt says : 
"We felt our circumstances peculiarly trying; 
but having no help but our God, and no object 
but to live or die in his cause, we cast ourselves 
on his mercy and calmly waited the end. At 
length we determined to try again what kind- 
ness would do, and took the king a present. 
We asked the direction and blessing of God 
before we took it, and our dear wives continued 
in earnest prayer, while we were away, that we 
might be guided aright. The Lord heard prayer. 
The king received us kindly, was much pleased 
w T ith our present, and gave us a pig as an offer- 
ing, he said, to Jehovah. This ended the w T hole 
affair. 

" One day, during a storm, one of the chiefs 
told us they had been consulting about us, and 
the result of their deliberations was that we 
should go away, for they did not intend to 
embrace Christianity. We told them plainly 
that we should not go till we were driven 
from them. Thank God, for my own part, I 
feel my love to them increases with their in- 
gratitude and enmity ; and I am determined 
to spend and be spent in trying to do them 
good, until God and his Church shall receive 

Missionary among Cannibals. 8 



116 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

me from them. This is the sentiment of us 
all." 

In Mr. Hunt's private journal, it is written, 
under the same date as the above letter : "I 
thank God especially that I can love these my 
enemies most cordially and heartily ; so that if 
they will only allow me to live, I will spend 
my strength for their welfare." 

For some time past Mr. Hunt had thought 
of writing his own views and the fruits of his 
Scripture searchings on his favorite subject — 
Christian holiness. He had stated this to Mr. 
Calvert, and during the voyage out from England 
they had held much earnest converse on this 
great topic. In reply to some inquiry of Mr. 
Calvert's about this plan, he writes, March 18 : 

" I had laid aside almost the thought of build- 
ing any of the castles on the ground which I 
built in the air some time ago. And, what is 
worse still, I was becoming more careless about 
the enjoyment of this blessing than I was some 
time since. I think I am stirred up by your 
letters to be more in earnest about the blessing 
myself, and to be more determined to write 
something on the subject. As to the plan on 
which I should proceed, my present opinion is 
that you and I should correspond on the subject, 
and whenever opportunity serves write a letter 
expressly on it. Observe well, I do not mean 



S03IOS0310. 



117 



that we should have a controversy on the sub- 
ject, but a free, friendly,, sanctified, theological, 
and experimental correspondence." 

Thus were commenced those Letters on Entire 
San ctifi cation which afterward Mr. Hunt care- 
fully reconstructed, but did not live to complete 
fully. After his death they were published, 
and dedicated, at the writer's request, to his 
beloved theological tutor, Dr. Hannah. This 
volume of Letters is certainly one of the most 
judicious, sound, and well arranged systems of 
teaching on Entire Holiness that has been writ- 
ten, and is full of the vigorous and hearty piety 
of the writer. 

In a letter to Mr. Calvert, dated April, 1840, 
Mr. Hunt says of himself : " I am sure I love 
God ; and scarcely dare say I do not love him 
with all my heart. But when I try to think so, 
a great number of things start up before my 
mind which are inconsistent with perfect love ; 
and a still greater number of things that are 
wanting in me, such as I think a person has who 
has perfect love. Well, may I not hope that I 
have perfect love in a small, very small degree? 
I am willing to acknowledge that I have the 
least degree any man ever possessed who had it 
at all ; but have I not the least degree ? I think 
this is my conclusion. I feel I have an entire 
repose in the blood of Christ. I love his name, 



118 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



his book, his people, his work. I feel I love my 
enemies. I can bless them that curse me. I 
could give a list of such things in my favor ; but 
then I could give a greater on the other side. 
"What then am I to do? 4 This is the work of 
God, that ye believe in him whom he hath sent. 5 
When I do this all is clear, and I feel God is 
pleased with me, and Christ saves me to the 
uttermost. So it is thus : when I look at myself, 
I am discouraged ; when I look at Christ, I am 
encouraged and comforted." 

In June, 1810, Somosomo was in great excite- 
ment on account of the arrival of three vessels, 
two of them belonging to the United States 
Exploring Expedition, and the other a trader. 
One of these brought intelligence that the good 
Mrs. Cargill had just died at Rewa. Mr. Hunt, 
with his usual loving spirit, determined to go 
and give what comfort he could to his sorrowing 
brother. Commodore Wilkes, who showed every 
possible kindness to the missionaries, offered to 
convey Mr. Hunt to Kewa. While he was there 
the district meeting was held, and the affairs of 
the mission carefully examined. In returning 
to Somosomo he was compelled to make a long, 
circuitous passage, during which he spent many 
days in an open boat. This exposure cost Mr. 
Hunt a severe illness, from the remains of which 
he never fully recovered, but he uttered no syl- 



SOMOSOMO. 



119 



lable of complaint. On getting once more 
settled, he wrote : 

" Our work at present seems to be to stand still 
and see the salvation of God. I am not sanguine 
at all, nor at all afraid. This is my general state 
when I am in trouble. I seem as if I dare not 
say, ' The Lord will deliver me ;' I can only say 
that he w T ill if he see that deliverance will be 
best. Praise the Lord, he does wonderfully 
preserve us. Don't fear, my friends. Praise 
God, and put your whole trust in him for your- 
selves and for us. 

"In our work we seem to labor in vain, but 
faith can never come to such a conclusion. I 
would not believe such a thing if all the philos- 
ophers in the world were to tell me so. If we 
preach Christ's truth he is with us 5 and his pres- 
ence is not in vain. 4 He must reign till he 
hath put all enemies under his feet.' 

"I love these poor wretches, obstinate as they 
are ; nay, I sometimes wish I could love my 
brethren as much as I love t/iem. And if I, 
whose heart is so destitute of compassion, feel 
-thus, what a fullness of love and truth there is 
in those words which enforce on us the duty of 
interceding for all men ! £ For this is acceptable 
in the sight of God our Saviour, who will have 
all men to be saved and come to the knowledge 
of the truth.' God does not only not will that 



120 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



any should perish, but he does will that all 
should be saved ; and how does he will it who 
gave himself a ransom to accomplish it ! 

" I want more of this will. I want sympathy. 
God sets a mark on the men that sigh and that 
cry for the abominations that are done in the 
midst of Fiji. And if he should say to the 
destroyer, 1 Go through Somosomo and smite ; 
let not your eye spare, neither have pity,' he 
will also say : ' But come not near any man on 
whom is the mark.' If God should permit us 
even to fall by the hands of the rebels, we shall 
go to heaven with the mark upon us." 

At the time this was written Somosomo was 
preparing for a war which lasted till nearly the 
end of the year. During this time the cannibal 
feasts were more frequent, and barbarous cere- 
monies were constantly taking place in the town. 
The ovens were so near the mission-house that 
the smell from them was sickening ; and the 
young king furiously threatened to kill the mis- 
sionaries and their wives if they shut up their 
house to exclude the horrible stench. Among 
all perils and annoyance Mr. Hunt steadily and 
earnestly went about his work, always, to use 
his favorite expression, turning his care into 
prayer. 

The year 1841 opened with rumors of fresh 
wars, whereby the mission, as far as Somosomo 



SOMOSOMO. 



121 



itself was concerned, was greatly hindered, 
though the consequent influx of strangers gave 
the missionaries frequent opportunities of teach- 
ing those whom, otherwise, they could never 
have reached. 

" With respect to our work," Mr. Hunt writes, 
" we are much as usual. We preach daily, 
visit sometimes, and have a few scholars. We 
seem to be doing but little, though I am sure I 
work hard ; and so do all, so far as I am able to 
judge. For some time past I have been pros- 
pering in spiritual things, and much blessed in 
reading and studying the word of God." 

In February and March all the members of 
the mission household were ill, and Mr. and 
Mrs. Lyth lost a child by croup, and buried him 
under the little house where Mrs. Hunt's baby 
was laid. In June the survivors were in good 
health again, in time to enjoy the great event 
of the year, the arrival of the " Triton" mission- 
ship, bringing the general superintendent, Mr. 
Waterhouse, with the latest letters, some more 
than a year old, from England. During Mr. 
Waterhouse's visit the district meeting was held 
at Lakemba, and Mr. Hunt accompanied the 
general superintendent thither, and to some of 
the more distant stations at Vatoa and Ono. 
As the " Triton" came near Somosomo, on her 
return, the natives gathered numerously on the 



122 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



hillside at the back of the mission house, the 
inmates of which could hear them exulting be- 
cause she had missed the safe anchorage and 
was making direct for the rocks, where her 
destruction seemed inevitable. The savages 
grew wild with excitement as they watched 
her perilous course and made sure of a rich 
prize. Their proposal to fasten up the ladies, 
who were anxiously expecting the return of the 
missionaries, in the house was distinctly heard 
by their intended victims, who thus were made 
aware of their danger. A few seconds of dread- 
ful suspense, and then a mad shout rpse as the 
vessel struck on the reef, and the crowd, with 
fierce cries and whirling clubs, rushed down to 
the shore, and embarked for their work of blood- 
shed and plunder. The king was from home, 
and there was no one to restrain the people. It 
was a terrible time for the ladies of the mission- 
house. Their Fijian servant smote her breast 
as she cried out: "Sa Tcasa na waqa! Sa fcasa 
nawaqa!"- — "The ship is fast! The ship is fast!" 

One of the missionaries' wives went aside 
and knelt, and looked up, and prayed: "Al- 
mighty Jesus, avc need thy help !" And as 
she came out again she met one of her com- 
panions, who was greatly agitated, and said: 
" Don't be alarmed. There will be nothing the 
matter." 



SOMOSOMO. 



123 



They opened the door and looked forth over 
the water to see the "Triton" gently gliding 
off into deep water before the canoes could 
reach her. 

Soon after this Mrs. Hunt was again taken 
seriously ill, and the sorrowful fear of losing his 
beloved wife was added to Mr. Hunt's difficult 
and discouraging mission work. At the close 
of the year he wrote to Mr. Calvert : 

" I am much obliged to you for your sympa- 
thy, which I need in my present circumstances; 
and as you are my bosom friend I shall tell you 
a few of my troubles, that I may still have your 
sympathies and prayers. 

" My dear wife has been afflicted several 
months together, and along time must yet elapse 
before she will be strong. She is just now able 
to get up for about an hour, and with my help 
walk twice or thrice over the room. Many times 
it seemed almost impossible that she should re- 
cover. I have of course been the principal 
nurse all the while, and my time has been taken 
up. These things are a sore trial to me, because 
they keep me from the other duties of my call- 
ing. I am almost persuaded at times to think I 
am of no use, and that the Lord will not accept 
of me as his laborer, but I would not yield to 
temptation. I make my case known to God, and 
he will I trust make my way plain before me. 



124 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



At present I feel it is my work to humble my- 
self under his mighty hand. My prayer is : 
6 Lord, spare her, and grant that we may live to 
labor in Fiji.' If I am of no use I make one, 
and am better than none. I hope for better 
days. 

"Your kind remarks on my papers encouraged 
me. I had almost given all up on this subject, 
but I will begin again by the help of God. 

" Ton see I am rather low, but it is not incon- . 
sistent with joy in the Lord. Considering my 
circumstances I am generally very happy. Mr. 
Lyth is very kind. I believe he fully under- 
stands Mrs. Hunt's case, and has treated it in 
the best way." 

At the beginning of 1842 it was arranged 
that Mr. Hunt should attend to the towns and 
villages round about Somosomo, while his col- 
league took charge of the mission work at home. 
In addition to this increased labor, and the nurs- 
ing of his sick wife, Mr. Hunt was employed in 
building a new house, as the place where the 
two families had resided together was very un- 
healthy, and in other respects undesirable. A 
house had been erected for Mr. Lyth near the 
shore, and Mr. Hunt thus describes to his wife, 
for the benefit of her friends in England, the 
establishment which he was then completing. 

"Our present dwelling-house is about fifty-six 



SOMOSOMO. 



125 



feet long, and twenty -six wide inside. It has no 
less than twenty upright posts to support it. 
The roof is well wooded and thatched ; the walls 
reeded and lined with mats. The bed-room at 
the south end is floored with boards, except a 
small part of it which you wished to have as a 
store. The middle of the house is made into a 
large dining-room, in which we have a small 
native fireplace, which is very convenient when 
we are ill. The dining-room is separated from 
the bed-room by a reed-wall, lined inside with 
nice native cloth. At the north end of the house 
is my study, which is separated from the dining- 
room in the same way as the bed-room, but it is 
not lined : I don't know why. I have also a 
little store in my study. 

"The front of our house is open to the sea, 
and is not more than forty yards from it. About 
ten yards from the sea is our outside fence, and 
ten or fifteen yards nearer the house is another 
well-built fence. These fences inclose two gar- 
dens which are your own, and planted with 
bananas, Cape-gooseberries, pine-apples, and 
native shrubs of various kinds. The gardens, 
as you know, are not planted at random. Both 
your head gardener (myself) and your under 
gardener (Noah) have endeavored to make them 
as useful and pleasing as possible. We have 
rows of tall bananas, and nice walks/ and every- 



126 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



thing in fact is done so as to meet your own 
views of neatness, order, and utility. On the 
other side of the house, and near to it, is a small 
house for the people to wash and iron in, and 
which you will find convenient. Further back 
is the kitchen, and, at a short distance from this, 
the servants' house. These houses and a fence 
form the boundary of the kitchen garden, which 
is beautifully situated on the side of a hill. The 
hill is just sloping enough to allow of its being 
planted until you get about half-way up, and 
then it is nearly perpendicular to the top. The 
garden part is planted with bananas, taro, kum- 
eras (sweet potatoes), beans and peas, (a few,) 
which are all growing most luxuriantly. The 
part not planted by us is planted by nature with 
nice shrubs, etc., one of which has a beautiful 
flower now in full bloom. 

" Over this nearly perpendicular mountain- 
side flows, or rather falls, a stream of fresh water, 
ever-flowing. It comes to the bottom of the 
mountain, and is there turned inside the garden 
so as to run quite through ; then, forming an 
angle, it empties itself into the sea. 

u This is a brief sketch of our premises. In 
the same inclosure is Mr. Lyth's house, with 
appendages similar to ours. The chapel, which 
is near the center, and Moses's house, complete 
the mission establishment." 



SOMOSOMO. 



127 



Mrs. Hunt now began to get better, and her 
good husband entered more heartily than ever 
into his work of study, translation, preaching, 
and visiting. The following extract from a ser- 
mon on Matthew xvi, 24, shows his style of giv- 
ing the truth to the natives : 

" We must not only deny ourselves but take 
up our cross, which I explained as consisting in 
those things which are difficult to us. 

" Religion is difficult, especially to new begin- 
ners, because of the badness of our hearts ; and 
it is impossible for those who think they can be 
religious of themselves without praying to God 
to help them. 

" Religion is difficult. And what is not that 
is useful? A garden-full of grass is very easily 
grown, but of what use is it? A bad canoe is 
easily made, but it is of no use. A bad house 
is soon built, but it is of no use. Good gardens, 
canoes, houses, axes, knives, whales' teeth, etc., 
are all difficult to get, but they are useful. Med- 
icine is sometimes very bitter, but it is very 
useful. So it is with religion. Our minds don't 
like it, but it is that by which we live. 

" We don't like repentance and faith in Christ, 
and to keep the commandments of God, but 
this is the way to live. 

"Your way of treating your sick is much 
easier than ours. When persons are sick you 



128 A MISSIONARY AMONG- CANNIBALS. 

neglect them, or bury them alive, or strangle 
them. This is very easy. We watch our sick, 
give them medicine, and feed them. This is 
difficult, but our sick often recover and yours 
die. Ours is the difficult way, but it is the way 
to live. Tours is the easy way, but it is the way 
of death. So it is with your religion. It is 
easy, but it is the way of death. Ours is diffi- 
cult, but it is the way of life. 

"But our religion is not always difficult. It 
is only so when we first begin. By and by it 
becomes easy. When we obtain a new heart 
then our way is easy. Begin, then. Don't mind 
the difficulty." 

In March Mr. Hunt writes : " I am thankful 
to say my dear wife is once more well. It is 
wonderful how the Lord has raised her up. 
You cannot imagine how she was reduced, or 
how quickly she recovered. Praise the Lord, O 
my soul ! Amen and amen." 
' All was thus bright at home, and the mission- 
ary went more cheerily than ever about his 
work ; not content with the fixed regulation 
duties of his office, but catching at every chance 
of doing good. Thus, while he continued his 
studies with laborious care, applying himself to 
the Hebrew and Greek Scriptures, and effecting 
translations into Fijian of the most masterly 
kind, not forgetting to keep up his reading in 



SOMOSOMO. 



129 



English theology and general literature, he made 
himself known among the natives as their friend 
by a thousand attentions and helps, which intro- 
duced them to comforts and advantages they 
had never dreamed of before. In all times of 
their trouble he was peculiarly kind. It was no 
uncommon thing for him to act as nurse as well 
as doctor to the sick. Stooping very low to get 
in at the little doorway, he would make his way 
to the mat whereon the patient lay, and then 
busy himself in preparing arrowroot at the fire 
in the middle of the floor, at the risk of scorch- 
ing or scalding his fingers in pouring boiling 
water out of the great earthen pot which did 
duty as kettle in the native establishment. 

Such continued efforts on the part of the two 
missionaries could not fail to do some good; but 
the results were, with some cheering exceptions, 
general, mediate, and not of that kind which 
can be clearly stated or represented by figures. 
The time of Mr. Hunt's residence in Somosomo 
was near its close ; for after the district meeting 
held in August, 1842, he went to occupy the 
Yiwa station, vacated by Mr. Cross, whose ill- 
health suggested the plan of his removal to 
Somosomo, where he might be under the medi- 
cal care of Mr. Lyth. 

At the time of Mr. Hunt's leaving Somosomo 
he thus sums up his experience on that station : 



130 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



" Somosomo has been a place where every feel- 
ing of our nature and every principle of our 
religion has been tested. We believe that we 
have been made a great blessing at Somosomo, 
though the fruits of our labors do not yet fully 
appear, nor perhaps will at present, 3 ' 

In a letter written on board the missionary 
brigantine "Triton," while Mr. Hunt was on the 
way to his new station, he gives the following 
truthful description of the people of Fiji, and 
of some ascertained results of the mission : 

" You have heard a great deal on the dark 
side of the* character of the Fijians, I have no 
doubt, and of the vileness of their moral char- 
acter too much cannot be said. Some of the 
worst features of heathenism, in the picture 
drawn by St. Paul in the first of Eomans, are 
too observable in them not to be seen even by 
a stranger. 

"The Fijians, however, have some character- 
istics which make them very interesting to me, 
and make it a pleasure to labor among them. 

" They are an industrious people. Their 
houses, gardens, plantations, and canoes are a 
proof of this. I was astonished to find a people 
so deeply depraved in such a state of civiliza- 
tion in these respects. 

" They plant as much as provides abundantly 
for their wants, though in many instances they 



SOMOSOMO. 



131 



do not enjoy the fruits of their industry, from 
their custom of feasting. These feasts often 
occur, and a large number of people assemble 
at them for the purpose of eating, trading, etc. 
The chief of the town where the feast is held 
considers it his duty to provide very large quan- 
tities of food, partly out of respect to the chiefs 
and people who come to the feast, and partly 
that he may obtain a good report in other lands. 
The object indeed is not so much to feed the 
people as to have a very large heap of food. 
They cannot eat the whole of it, and consequent- 
ly very much is thrown away; and thus the poor 
people, who have had to supply food to the vis- 
itors, see the fruits of .their labors thrown into 
the sea through the foolish ambition of their 
chiefs. The chiefs are, however, many of them 
as industrious as their people. They are not 
ashamed of soiling their hands, or of cultivating 
their land. 

64 The Fijians are also a commercial people, in 
their way. They do not sail to other lands for 
the purpose of trading ; but among themselves 
they trade a great deal. Some tribes, who are 
much employed in sailing from island to island 
to attend feasts and bring the tribute of the 
small islands to the principal chief, never plant, 
but obtain their food by purchasing it with na- 
tive pots made by their wives, baskets, whales' 

Missionary among Cannibals. Q 



132 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

teeth, etc., or receive it in repayment for their 
services to the chiefs. These men are great 
traders. Some call them the Jews of Fiji ; and 
Jews many of them are in many respects, and 
it is very difficult to make bargains with them, 
except for their own advantage. 

" The female part of the population attend to 
making native cloth, pots, etc. Even the wives 
of the chiefs are employed in printing the cloth, 
and in superintending the making of female 
dresses (Ukus) and other things. 

" You will see from these remaks that there 
is a good deal of variety in the occupations of 
the Fijians, and that the people are naturally of 
an active disposition. Government is easy (I 
mean easily attended to) in these islands. There 
is no regular code of laws in existence at present, 
except some regulations which have been left 
here by American ships of w r ar, and which are 
not as yet regarded by the people in general. 
The law of the land is the will of the principal 
chief, and he appoints any person he may choose 
to inflict punishment when he is offended. Per- 
haps the greatest crime a man can be guilty of 
is to offend the chief. For stealing they often 
cut off the fingers of the offender. For adultery 
the female's nose is cut off, especially if she was 
the wife of a chief. Sometimes both parties are 
punished with death. Some of the chiefs are 



SOMOSOMO. 



133 



exceedingly cruel, even to their wives and child- 
ren, and the whole of their subjects live in con- 
stant fear. Others are kind, and enjoy the 
affections of their people, who seem glad to be 
entirely devoted to their pleasure. 

"In war the Fijians are anything but brave. 
They generally succeed more by stratagem than 
by fighting ; and in some instances none are 
killed on either side, except by what might 
properly be called kidnapping. 

"The domestic character of the Fijians is by 
far the best part of them in my opinion. They 
really have a good idea of comfort in their fam- 
ilies. In some instances I have seen great affec- 
tion manifested by the different members of a 
family to one another ; and in preparing their 
food, comfortable houses, and cleanliness in 
their food, utensils, etc., they are astonishingly 
clever. 

" But there are such contradictions in their 
character that it is a very difficult thing to form 
a just idea of what they really are. Children 
who seem to have a good degree of affection for 
their parents will, nevertheless, strangle them 
when they are sick or old, especially if the 
parent requests it. I have seen a woman of high 
rank led to her grave alive, and strangled there 
by her own sons, who appeared to enjoy the 
horrid act. The contradictions in their charac- 



134 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

ter are partly to be attributed to custom, and 
partly to that fickleness of disposition which is 
the characteristic of men who have no educa- 
tion, no good example, no knowledge of God or 
his word, and, consequently, no fixed principles 
of action ; and who, in addition to all this, are 
under the god of this world. Custom, Satan, 
and their depraved hearts entirely govern them, 
Custom is one of the great tyrants of Fiji, and 
to its powerful influence a great part of the 
murders and much of the cannibalism of Fiji 
may be traced. A native will do anything if 
it be vacka-Fiji, that is, according to the custom 
of Fiji; and until they have had intercourse 
with missionaries for some time, they think their 
own customs are the most excellent in the world, 
and that it is impossible to improve them. 

" When we first went to Somosomo the prin- 
cipal chiefs were quite impatient of reproof. 
They did not hesitate at all to say that the cus- 
toms of eating human flesh and strangling were 
good, and considered us their enemies because 
we lifted up our voice against them. "We did 
not desist, however, until we had told them the 
truth; and we soon saw the result, in three 
instances especially: A town had been taken 
in war without a man being killed ; a large ca- 
noe has been launched, and has made her first 
voyage, without a single instance of cannibalism ; 



SOMOSOMO. 



135 



and the Somosomo people have feasted their 
superiors, the Mbau people, for several weeks 
without a single dead body. In the first instance 
we were one cause, instrumentally, of the people 
being spared ; in the second, perhaps, the only 
cause ; and in the third, perhaps, the only cause 
too ; but we had not directly to interfere, for the 
influence which truth had on the minds of the 
people made our interference unnecessary. 

" Thus is custom overcome, Satan's power is 
broken, and the reign of passion is checked ; 
and even Fijians are beginning to think, and to 
allow reason to have a place in their conduct of 
life. I am quite persuaded that nothing but 
missionary labor could have effected this ; and 
it can only effect it instrumentally. If we could 
have seen chaos, in darkness and confusion, we 
should not have doubted that God had spoken 
when £ there was light. 5 No power but his can 
effect a change in the heart of man, and without 
this we labor in vain to teach these people 
better customs." 



136 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



CHAPTER X. 
viwa: 1842, 1843, 

The new Station — Namosimalua — Training of Native Teachers — 
Light and Dark — Various Engagements — Death of Mr. Cross — 
Letter to Mr. Calvert — Chairman of the District — Visitation 
Tour — Searchings of Heart — Unbelief — School Work — A 
Day's Eecord — Letters to Mr. Lyth — To Mr. "Williams — Lit- 
erary Work — Kindness imposed upon — Letter to Mr. Calvert. 

Mr. and Mrs. Hunt reached their new station 
safely on August 30, 1842, just three years after 
the commencement of the mission there by Mr. 
Cross. 

Viwa is one of the small islets which rise from 
the reef on the eastern coast of Na Viti Levu — 
Great Fiji. At the time of the missionary's 
arrival it was of great political importance, and 
one of the most valuable dependencies of Mbau, 
the seat of the highest power in the group. It 
offered great advantages as a mission station, in 
consequence of its being only two miles from 
Mbau, where as yet the missionaries had been 
unable to gain a footing, and because of the fre- 
quent visits it received from people belonging to 
all parts of Fiji. The chief of Viwa, Namosi- 
malua, was, as already stated, a man of great 
note. For some years he had been prominent 



VIWA. 



137 



in every conspiracy by which Mbau was troub- 
led, and every war by which its greatness had 
been increased. In all these scenes Namosima- 
lua distinguished himself by his craftiness in 
council and stratagem, while his fame as a war- 
rior was deemed bloody and savage even in Fiji. 
This man had renounced heathenism and pro- 
fessed to be a Christian. It is too true that he 
never was really a Christian, yet he kept to his 
profession of it in the face of the displeasure 
and threats of the powerful king of Mbau. In 
addition to this, he befriended the missionaries, 
while he strictly refrained from all the more 
terrible crimes which had hitherto darkened his 
character, although in point of domestic moral- 
ity he showed but little change. 

Under Mr. Cross's diligent care a good work 
had been begun in Yiwa, and Mr. Hunt found 
a hundred and twenty persons under religious 
instruction, many of whom cheered him by 
plain tokens of a change of heart. Eight native 
teachers were being employed in the places un- 
der Mr. Hunt's care. 

The case of the native teachers had long en- 
gaged the serious and anxious attention of the 
missionaries, and Mr. Hunt had considered the 
matter with all his usual thoroughness. Many 
good, soundly converted young men had come 
out from the more prosperous scenes of the mis- 



138 A MISSION AEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

sion, and showed a strong desire to convey to 
others the blessedness with which their own 
hearts were filled. The extension of the work, 
too, called for more ministering than the few 
missionaries could render, and thus native agen- 
cy was already in general use. The land was 
being sown with the seed of the first harvest. 

It was about the training of these native 
Christians that Mr. Hunt had thought so long 
and so seriously, and several young men were 
now under his care. This made a very formi- 
dable addition to his other engagements ; but 
nothing was neglected. Indeed, he enjoyed 
hard work. He said he could only live "on 
full stretch," and every day proved it. Then 
this training work was especially a labor of love, 
and he took it up and carried it on with great 
zest and delight. The management of this im- 
portant branch of the mission had been intrusted 
to him by his brethren, so that he was engaged 
in writing simple lectures on theology for the 
native teachers on other stations, as well as in 
the instruction of those under his personal care, 
to whom he lectured three times a week at six 
o'clock in the morning. 

Living in Yiwa was very different from the 
residence in Somosomo. Many of the people 
were Christians by profession, and some in real- 
ity ; and as the chief protected and helped the 



VI WA. 



139 



Lotu, the missionary and his wife had many 
comforts to which they were strangers at Somo- 
somo, while they were saved from witnessing 
some of the horrible things that had so distressed 
them at their former station. Yet even in Viwa 
the old practices of heathen Fiji were not wholly 
abandoned : witness this extract from Mr. Hunt's 
journal: 

" October 22. This morning a number of 
women came from Mbau to strangle a poor 
woman to whom I had been giving medicine 
for some time. I succeeded in preventing them 
from strangling her, but they very nearly suc- 
ceeded in burying her alive unknown to me. I 
thought I should like to see how she was going 
on, fearing they would be doing something with 
her, and when I got into the Jcoro (town) I 
understood that Verani, the nephew of the chief 
of this place, had ordered her to be buried. I 
immediately went to him, and found him dig- 
ging her grave with his own hands. I urged him 
by all means to desist, and succeeded. He 
ordered the grave to be filled up again, and 
engaged to leave the woman to me. He rubbed 
his hands together, saying, c Dear me, I have 
dirtied my hands for nothing evidently some- 
what disappointed. I saw the woman before I 
went to him, and found that she did not wish to 
die, and seemed much pleased at the idea of 



140 A MISSIONAKY AMOJTO CANNIBALS. 

trying a little longer. Ratu-Mara, a Mbau chief, 
to whom she belongs, had sent word for her to 
be strangled. I gave her some medicine and 
food. She did not seem at all willing to die. 
A message came next morning to inform me 
that she was dead. I expect they assisted her 
after all, though they said they did not." 

The next entry shows something of the various 
character of Mr. Hunt's employment : 

" October 24. We began in good earnest to 
floor the study. I have been a good deal em- 
ployed with the men, and have only had time 
to write up my journal from the coming of the 
'Triton. 5 

" 25th. I have written my lecture on 6 Justifi- 
cation.' I have some difficulty in finding good 
words. We shall be some time before we are 
well understood on some of these points, for 
want of fit words. To-night I have commenced 
a short catechism, which is to be the basis of the 
quarterly and yearly examination of my pupils 
on the subject of theology. I have got through 
the Evidences. 

" I shall soon be tired of employing such 
workmen (the carpenters) and do the work my- 
self. I want more religion, and trust in the 
mercy of God in Christ for it. 

"26th. I have written my lecture on the 
Witness of the Spirit, and got to the end of the 



VI WA. 



141 



Divine Attributes in my catechism. My car- 
penters have been three days and have not got 
all the boards ready to put down yet. Wesley 
(a native teacher) preached to-day on 'If the 
dead rise not, then is Christ not risen. 5 A bit 
of good Gospel toward the close cheered me 
very much. 

"27th. Prepared my lecture on Regeneration. 
Got to the 'image of God in which man was 
created 5 in my catechism. Began translating 
1 Corinthians. 

" 28th. Spent in temporals chiefly. 

" 29th. Prepared for the Sabbath. 

" 30th. Preached three times to-day in native 
and once in English. 55 

To his friend, Mr. Calvert, Mr. Hunt writes : 

" I have at present a Lasakau canoe at my 
service, so that I am well off. I have good 
prospects, plenty of work, and pretty good 
health. I preach three times on the Sabbath, 
and intend to give three lectures a week and, if 
possible, visit Ovalau once a month. 

"I feel as if I were in sunshine, and I am 
always a little afraid in such circumstances. I 
pray that I may always speak tremblingly. 55 

During the following month Mr. Hunt finished 
his lectures on the Doctrines of Christianity, 
and began to prepare a course on Geography. 
His house was now made more comfortable, 



142 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

and he felt thoroughly settled in his work once 
more. 

On December 8 the sad intelligence of Mr. 
Cross's death at Somosomo arrived, and on the 
following Sunday Mr. Hunt says : " This morn- 
ing I led the prayer-meeting, and preached at 
ten o'clock on the death of Mr. Cross. It was a 
time to be remembered of a truth. Many wept, 
and so did I, as heartily as I have ever wept 
since I left England. I trust the event may be 
made a blessing to some of the people here. My 
text was, 6 Having a desire to depart and be with 
Christ, which is far better.' " 

In January and February, 1843, Mr. Hunt 
was very poorly, and unable to work so hard as 
he wished ; but a visit to Rewa did much to- 
ward his recovery. In March he visited this 
place once more and wrote to Lakemba : 

" I am now at Eewa, as you will see from the 
date of this ; and I am sorry to say I am here 
again on mournful business. Our friends here 
(Mr. and Mrs. Jaggar) have been called to part 
with their little girl. We have buried the beau- 
tiful clay to-day. She was a most lovely little 
creature, and her temper was as sweet as her 
features were pleasing. 

" Here are four belonging to the mission fam- 
ilies lying in the same spot, awaiting the morn- 
ing when 6 the dead in Christ shall rise first.' O 



VTWA. 



143 



glorious clay ! Could we but more fully realize 
it, how perfectly unreal would all we can enjoy 
in this world appear to us ! Well, 6 let us hasten 
to the day,' that we may be quite ready when 
the Son of man shall come. It is a cheering 
thought to me that death, as well as the judg- 
ment, should be called the ' coming of the Son 
of man.' Death is the servant of Christ ; but 
he never comes to the faithful without his Mas- 
ter ; so that the dying saint can say, ' Come, 
Lord Jesus, come quickly P a much better dy- 
ing speech than that which Mr. Pope has devised. 
Here is the grand secret of an easy passage to 
another world, as well as how to live usefully in 
this. To become acquainted with the Saviour 
is true wisdom. O my Saviour, forgive my 
neglect of thee. The Saviour of my dear babes 
and me. Take my body, spirit, soul for thyself, 
in time and in eternity. Amen, amen. 

" My health is not so good as formerly, I think. 
Sometimes I am quite poorly. Thank God, he 
sanctifies it, so it is all well. We are doing bet- 
ter at Yiwa than we were. Sometimes I find it 
difficult to preach ; but I have been able hitherto 
to take all my appointments." 

At the death of Mr. Cross his place as chair- 
man of the Fiji district was filled by Mr. Hunt, 
and thus his already abundant labors were in- 
creased. For some time he had been anxious to 



] 44 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

sail round Na Viti Levu, the large island off the 
coast of which Yiwa was situated. Many tribes 
of great importance inhabited districts and towns 
upon the shores of Na Viti Levu which had 
never been visited by a missionary, and Mr. 
Hunt resolved to explore this new ground. In 
the beginning of April he started from Yiwa on 
the voyage, which lasted about six weeks. The 
old and very small schooner in which he sailed 
had poor accommodation for passengers ; but Mr. 
Hunt had a marvelous way of making himself 
at home anywhere, and the trip was very satis- 
factory, as it gave him the opportunity of visit- 
ing some places where the Gospel had never 
been preached, and of forming an acquaintance 
with several chiefs of considerable influence. 
'Now and then adverse or failing winds detained 
the vessel, when her distant anchorage prevented 
any one going ashore. Even these occasions, at 
a time when he was very anxious to get home, 
were most profitably employed by the mission- 
ary. The following extracts are from his private 
journal : 

" Friday, 28th, (April.) To-day I set apart for 
abstinence and prayer for a speedy passage 
home and prosperity in my soul and work, as 
well as for my dear wife, who I am afraid will 
now begin to be anxious about me. 

" Monday, May 1. We made a trial to-day to 



VIWA. 



145 



get on a little, but we did not make very much 
way. I was praying all day for a fair wind, a 
clean heart, and for my dear wife. I am afraid 
she will be much concerned for me now. I want 
more patience than I have to keep me comfort- 
able when I am from home in this way. 

"Tuesday 2. We got under way to-day, but 
found it of no use, as the wind was not fair and 
became very strong, so that we were obliged to 
come to anchor again. The wind increased and 
blew almost a gale before night, and continued 
strong all night, so that we were tossing about 
with the sea, though in as good a place for shel- 
ter as we could find. To me it was a profitable 
though a heart-searching time. 

" Wednesday, 3. To-day we were at anchor 
all day without being able even to make an at- 
tempt at sailing. It was a good day I trust to 
me. I feel much more resigned to the will of 
God than I did, and my faith is somewhat in- 
creased. O for the full image of God ! I want 
the wisdom, the righteousness, the true holiness, 
the light, the love, the peace and joy in the 
Holy Ghost, which I know is the privilege of all 
the children of God, and therefore mine. I feel 
I have not this image. 

" I. I am very ignorant. I have but little of 
that 'unction of the Holy One' by which St. 
John says believers know all things. (1 John ii, 



146 A MXSSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



20.) I do not always know what is the will of 
God as to what I should believe and teach and 
practice. I have not the unction of the spirit 
in prayer as I ought to have. I have not the 
unction of the spirit in my studies and preach- 
ing, which is so needful to make me wise to win 
souls. 

"II. I have need of righteousness — inward rec- 
titude. 1. Of desire, so that I shall never desire 
anything but what pleases God and is calculated 
to benefit man, and constantly and strongly to 
desire this. 2. Rectitude of affections, so as to 
love nothing but w T hat God loves, and to love in 
the manner in which he loves : to love him su- 
premely, his people with complacency, and the 
world with a pity like his. And because I can- 
not imitate him in the degree of my love, I am 
to love him with all my heart and mind and 
soul and strength ; and all and every man as 
my own soul. 3. Rectitude of conscience • a con- 
science so awake that it cannot be surprised, 
so just that it cannot be bribed, so pleased with 
that which is right that it shall be cause of con- 
stant joj^, so pained with that which is wrong 
that he who has it cannot sin : 'a conscience 
void of offense toward God and men.' 4. Where 
this is the case there will be rectitude of will. 
Our will must thus be lost in the will of God. 
' Thy will be done ' will be our constant prayer. 



VIWA. 



147 



by us, in us, i on earth as it is done in heaven. 5 
Here is the rule. What I mean by entire resig- 
nation to the will of God is this : to be fully 
persuaded that God orders all events, both great 
and small ; to commit ourselves, body, soul, 
wife, family, property, influence, character, all 
into his hands, and to believe that whatever 
happens is best, and so fully to believe this as to 
'rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in 
everything to give thanks.' We may pray at 
all times, but we may not murmur or repine 
under any circumstances whatever. In all these 
respects I have need of righteousness. 

III. I have need of true holiness. Much 
that is contrary to the will and nature of God 
remains in me. Pride, envy, malice, uncharita- 
bleness, impatience — which sometimes torments 
me exceedingly, and more or less every day — 
censoriousness, slander, evil-speaking, deceit, 
hypocrisy, unbelief, worldly-mindedness, lust, 
anger, the fear of man, want of meekness and 
long-suffering, or, to sum up the whole, an awful 
want of love to God and man. Thus do I need 
holiness. I trust none of these evils reign in 
me, but I have had daily proof that they exist 
and strive to rule. 

" The natural result of this want of holiness is 
a corresponding want of happiness and useful- 
ness. How often my happiness is hindered and 

Missionary among Cannibals. 1 



148 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

almost destroyed by pride. How easily pride 
is wounded, and how painful is the wound. 

"Envy is itself misery. It repines at anoth- 
er's welfare, and prevents us enjoying what we 
have, though we may have much more than 
they. 

" Malice reserves the things which make me 
miserable to-day to continue my misery. It is 
the storekeeper of misery. Uncharitahleness 
prevents me feeling the happiness of compla- 
cency in others, by leading me to undervalue 
their excellencies. 

u Impatience — wishing and desiring and long- 
ing for things over which I have no control to 
be different from what they are, such as winds, 
weather, health, etc., etc., whereas I ought 
calmly to rest in God, after having done what I 
can. Impatience toward men : I expect more 
from them than I ought, and am dissatisfied, 
angry, or disappointed when they do not act as 
I think they should. 

" Censoriousness, slander, and evil-speaking 
always leave a sting behind, and hinder me from 
enjoying the company of those I slander, be- 
cause I am not sure whether they have heard 
what I have said against them or not. 

"Deceit toward men leads me to fear I have 
not their confidence, because I know I do not 
deserve it; and hypocrisy toward God can 



VIWA. 



149 



never consist with confidence in him who desires 
truth in the inward parts. 

" Unbelief is a fruitful source of misery. It 
is the' parent of a thousand needless fears, and 
prevents me from drinking of the rivers of 
pleasure which faith in Christ and in the prom- 
ises of God secures. 

" Worldly-mindedness — a desire for more of 
this world than is needful for holiness and use- 
fulness ; a desire of riches or honors, or the 
pleasures of sense or the imagination, or such 
things as shall make us appear of some account 
in the world. These things are all more or less 
difficult to obtain, and when obtained they do 
not give satisfaction, but produce a painful desire 
for more. Disappointment and dissatisfaction 
always accompany a wgrldly spirit." 

In pointing out how these several forms of 
evil not only mar happiness, but hinder useful- 
ness, especially in a missionary to the heathen, 
Mr. Hunt says of unbelief : " How this locks up 
my spiritual sense to the moral and spiritual 
world ! How indistinctly I see God's wrath 
against sinners, and its terrible consequences ! 
How seldom my soul hears the weeping and 
wailing and gnashing of teeth of the millions of 
the lost! How indistinctly I see the arm of God 
stretched out to save all who are not actually 
lost! And how little my soul is aroused when 



150 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

I hear him tell me to go and declare his willing- 
ness to save! How little I feel the love of the 
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost to a ruined world, 
and how coldly I make it known! I can use 
and hear the words God, Christ, the Holy 
Ghost, heaven, hell, lost, saved, and such like, 
with little emotion. O God, where is my faith ? 
Surely if it was alive it would associate these 
words with burning ideas, which would influence 
every power of my body and soul. Now, I 
beseech thee, give me faith, and let me not live 
another moment without its full exercise. How 
little faith have I in my prayer or my preaching. 
I do not see and feel in my soul the things I 
pray about and talk about as a botanist sees 
plants when he describes them, or as an actor 
on the stage, or a poet, sees and feels fictions of 
the imagination. But how much more intense 
ought the feelings and views of faith to be !" 

In inquiring how he may lose all evil and 
gain all good, Mr. Hunt likens himself to the 
leper, and says, " Like him I come to Christ. I 
fall down at his feet. I worship him. I believe 
it when I say, ' Lord, if thou wilt thou canst 
make me clean.' I not only believe that he can, 
but that he is my friend; that he died to cleanse 
me ; that ' he is able to save unto the uttermost 
all that come unto God by him, seeing he ever 
liveth to make intercession for them.' I confide 



VIWA. 



151 



in him, hang on him, and pray, 'Lord, increase 
my faith. 5 1 have not so strong a faith as I wish 
to have, or such as his power, wisdom, and love 
warrant and his word invites ; but what I have 
brins; peace and some joy, which I know is in 
the Holy Ghost." 

Ten days after the above was written Mr. 
Hunt was still detained on the voyage, and felt 
much for his wife, who he knew would be pain- 
fully uneasy about his safety. It was Sunday, 
( and after preaching to the crew he was very 
dejected, and wrote : "I felt my situation, and 
was much concerned about my dear wife ; but, 
above all, I felt my unworthiness and worthless- 
ness. It seemed as if I had done wrong alto- 
gether in leaving home, and in everything I had 
done since I left home ; and, indeed, all that I 
had ever done seemed wrong. I felt very much 
for some time, and then the Lord lifted up the 
light of his countenance upon me and gave me 
great peace. I felt happy all the day, so that I 
could have shouted aloud in praise to God. I 
could trust in Jesus as my perfect Saviour, and 
rejoice greatly in his love. I trust my Hannah 
(Mrs. Hunt) feels every moment as I felt then. 
Praise the Lord ! It was a seasonable manifesta- 
tion of his love. I felt I could come to Christ 
as my perfect Saviour ; that I could come now, 
and just as I am, without waiting to be better; 



152 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

and I felt a strong confidence in the unchangea- 
bleness of the love of Christ, believing that 
nothing can separate me from his love to me a 
poor worthless worm." 

After four days more Mr. Hunt reached Yiwa, 
to the great comfort of his wife and friends, who 
had been much alarmed at his long absence. 
On his return he again applied himself to the 
instruction of his students, and his favorite work 
of translating. Before the end of the year he 
also had an English and writing school in full* 
operation, his scholars being the children of 
white residents, a few of whom had settled and 
married native wives on the island of Ovalau. 
The domestic aspect of the mission-house was 
now brightly changed by the birth of a little 
girl, whose coming brought a father's joy into 
the loving and tender heart of the missionary, 
and helped him to engage the more happily in 
his great toil. Here are one day's occupation 
and notes : 

"Taught a day-school. Four Levuka* boys. 
Two Viwa boys, learning English, read the last 
lesson in the First Books to-day. Translated 
part of the baptismal service from the Liturgy. 
Had the men's writing school. Loko died. My 
little girl nicely. Did not enjoy my morning's 

* Levuka is the chief town of Ovalau and the residence of the 
whites. 



VIWA. 



153 



devotions as well as usual, not using my usual 
help to devotion, the Litany. Did not enjoy 
my walk till I began to think of perfect love. 
Eead the latter part of the first volume of Mil- 
ner's Church History. Should like to see a 
good Church history by a thorough Methodist ; I 
mean, a man who lives in the full enjoyment of 
perfect love. 

"Conversed at tea with Mrs. Hunt on anxious- 
care. There are two kinds of care. One is 
anxiety to do our duty, which is right. The 
second is anxiety about providential events, 
which is wrong." 

In writing to Mr. Lyth, in September, Mr. 
Hunt shows how fully he himself has this right 
anxiety to do his duty. " I see more than ever 
that two things only are worth my attention, 
holiness and usefulness; and I am more than 
ever determined to devote myself to these two 
things. I love holiness more than ever, and 
have had a larger baptism of the Spirit who is 
most fitly designated Holy. But still I am far 
from being as holy as I ought to be. I have 
also a great desire to be useful, though not so 
great as I should have. I cannot yet say, 'The 
zeal of thy house hath eaten me up.' 

" But what must I do to accomplish what I 
desire ? For I am sure I have a good deal to do 
with bringing about the accomplishment of my 



154 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

own desires, which are not my own, but the gift 
of grace divine. In the first place I must settle 
the matter with God, that I will, by his grace, 
be wholly his, and that I will trust entirely in 
the blood of Christ for full salvation. This 
God requires, and it is essential, as perfect love 
and its fruits can only be the results of perfect 
faith. 

" My consecration to God must include these 
three things besides: 1. A determination by 
his grace never to indulge in any conversation, 
follow any pursuit, or read any books not in my 
conscientious opinion calculated to increase my 
holiness and usefulness. 2. That I will attend 
to all things which I believe are calculated to 
help me in these two particulars. 3. I will allow a 
considerable portion of time every day to be spent 
in reading the word of God and prayer, that I 
may know what I should do and what leave 
undone in order to be entirely holy, and as use- 
ful as it is the will of God I should be. 

" One thing I must keep in mind, and that is 
that I must fully believe that my heavenly 
Father is of the same mind as myself in these 
particulars, and that he will manage my outward 
affairs so as to promote my holiness and useful- 
ness as well as bless the use of the means. There 
are two classes of means of grace : those which 
we use, and those which Qod uses. Those which 



VIWA. 



155 



we use are called in the old Minutes, £ Instituted 
and Prudential.' Those which God uses are of 
two kinds : such as are particularly calculated 
to make us thankful, and those that are more 
particularly calculated to humble us. All our 
blessings and all our trials are intended to be 
means of grace." 

In another letter to the same he writes: 
" During the last six months I think I have en- 
joyed more religion than I ever did in Fiji : but 
I am not uniform ; I fluctuate a good deal. 
Sometimes I think I so love God that no evil 
has any place in me. Then again I feel the 
stirrings of evil either from my heart or from 
the devil. So you see I am weak, or I should 
know more certainly what is from the devil and 
what is not. My morning devotions are usually 
seasons of good to me. I generally use the 
Litany in private prayer in the morning, and 
am often blessed with enlargement of heart and 
freedom of speech before the Lord ; and I be- 
lieve that I both feel and see answers to prayer. 
Then I am often dull at family prayer, and 
sometimes get a little irritated with the boys 
in the forenoon, or get a little nervous about 
something that goes wrong. My Sabbaths are 
good days, only I want to have seven in a week. 
And why not ? Why am I not as spiritual over 
writing as in preaching? Because I am weak 



156 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

in faith. I see a great deal yet to be done in 
me before I am like my Lord and Master." 

To Mr. Williams, who had just removed to 
Somosomo, he writes: "I am very thankful to 
hear of your personal, family, and public pros- 
perity, and trust the Lord will enable you to 
preach the Gospel successfully at Somosomo 
also. You will, no doubt, meet with new trials 
in a new place ; but you will have new mercies 
also ; and I hope you will be so taken up with 
mercies, and have so much to do for the Giver, 
as not to feel the presence of less pleasant things. 
Live fully to God, my brother, and then all will 
be well. It appears to me to be folly to expect 
perfect happiness without perfect holiness. And 
why not expect perfect holiness? Is not this 
the cure ? Cannot Jesus Christ do as much in 
the way of saving as sin and the devil have done 
in the way of polluting and debasing us? And 
will he not ? ' For this purpose was the Son of 
God manifested, that he might destroy the works 
of the devil.' Are not pride, envy, malice, un- 
charitable feelings and conversations, anger, 
fretfulness, peevishness, (often called nervous- 
ness,) love of the world, unbelief, etc., all works 
of the flesh and of the devil ? Jesus the Son of 
God will surely save us from all these our sins; 
for we are his ransomed, believing people. Let 
us pray for each other, that all the purposes 



VIWA. 



157 



of our dying Lord may be accomplished in 
us, and that he may have the glory of fully 
saving us. 

" I must now give you a little news, and good 
news it is. My dear wife and child are doing 
nicely. The little girl is very fat, and seems 
hearty. You have been blessed with a living 
offspring, and you cannot feel the suspense, the 
painful suspense, of those who, like us, have had 
to part with all that have been born. We re- 
joice that God has blessed us again; but it is 
with trembling. I trust, however, we can say, 
6 Thy will be done.' We are both trying to give 
God our hearts, and in doing this we give him 
our will and with it our all ; for a man's will is 
his all : when that is given there is not much 
kept back. We can then sing : 

1 Father, into thy hands alone 

I have my all restored ; 
My all, thy property I own, 

The steward of the Lord.' " 

During the year Mr. Hunt had traveled about 
eleven hundred miles, chiefly by water. He 
says, in a letter to England : " One place in my 
circuit is about a hundred miles off, and another 
about seventy, and a third thirty. Besides, I 
have made a missionary tour round an island 
called Na Viti Levu, about three hundred and 



158 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



forty miles in circumference, and preached the 
Gospel to the people of five different tribes 
or kingdoms who have never before seen a 
missionary." 

At the request of Mrs. Cross, Mr. Hunt had 
commenced a memoir of her late husband, which 
he afterward completed and sent to England, 
where it was published. At the same time he 
worked at intervals in writing upon holiness, and 
sent what he wrote to Mr. Calvert. His theo- 
logical lectures and short sermons in Fijian were 
also being prepared for the press.* In connection 
with his translating, he set himself to compare 
the various dialects, as far as they had been 
ascertained by himself and the other mission- 
aries ; and his arrangement of the points in 
which they differed on either side of the strong 
line of agreement running through all, was clear 
and philosophical. 

But the work of the mission was hindered by 
more formidable differences among the people 
than those of dialect For a long time threaten- 
in gs of war had disturbed that part of Fiji in 
which Mr. Hunt was placed, and in the latter 
part of this year the long conflict between Mbau 
and Kewa commenced. Another cause of con- 
stant anxiety was thus given to Mr. Hunt, not so 

* These were published from the Mission press in March, 1844, 
under the title of JVa Vanau Lekaleka, " Short Sermons." 



VIWA. 



159 



much 011 his own account, as about the mission- 
ary who was at Kewa in the very heat of the 
war, and with whom no direct communication 
could now be held. 

This invariable unselfishness, together with an 
intense sympathy for those who were in trouble, 
was one of the main features in Mr. Hunt's char- 
acter. The chief of Mbau comes to the mission- 
house and begs a blanket. Just then the family 
is rather troubled by their scanty supply of this 
very article ; but the chief gets the blanket. A 
messenger disturbs the missionary at his studies 
by announcing the frightful illness of some per- 
son a long way off. The good man hastens away 
to the house of the sufferer, and finds that there 
is scarcely anything the matter with him. This 
is very annoying ; but the missionary tries to be 
patient, and goes home to his books again. If, 
however, the case is really bad, he will give and 
do all he can to relieve it. The natives know 
this, and are never backward in applying to Misi 
Oneti, as they call him. But toward his bro- 
ther missionaries, when they are afflicted, his 
tender love is beautiful. Thus he writes to his 
dear friend Mr. Calvert, who was very ill at 
Lakemba : 

" I can only pray for you at present. This we 
do here continually, both in public and private ; 
and the Lord, I believe, answers prayer. I have 



160 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



great hopes that you will be spared to us and 
your family. Look up, my dear brother ! Thank 
God, you are not afraid of death, or anxious for 
life. What a blessing is religion ! We feel for 
you being alone, and wish you were at Viwa with 
us a while. The air and company might be of 
much use to you. The Lord will bring you here 
if it be best. He who numbers the hairs of our 
heads also marks out our habitation for us, and 
orders all events, even those which are, in our 
esteem, of no more importance than a single 
hair which we pluck out and throw away at 
random. 

"Thank the Lord, we are nicely. I am much 
obliged for your concern about me. I consci- 
entiously take care of my health. Good health 
is a great blessing, and it requires great grace 
to use it aright. 

" Well, my dear brother, how does your soul 
prosper ? Tell me exactly wher§ you are. I 
am fluttering about the cross ; sometimes taking 
hold of Christ as a perfect Saviour, and feeling 
something of the cleansing blood ; then getting 
away again, and temper rises, or some other 
bitter thing. I see it is all by faith. We 
must fully believe, or we make nothing out; 
not talk about believing, but believe with the 
heart. * 

" How is dear sister Calvert ? She has 



VIWA. 



161 



4 good report of all, and of the truth itself.' 
Do you good friends write to us about your 
souls. Pray for us. Love us, and assure your- 
selves you are in our hearts to live and to die 
with you." 



162 A MISSION AEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



CHAPTER XI. 

VIWA, 1844, 1 845. 

Self-examination — Eeflections — Economy of Labor — Letters to 
Mr. Calvert — Hospital Engagements — Murder — Difficulty and 
Hope — Baptismal Service — The Queen's Conversion — Letter 
to Mr. Wiljiams — Opposition to Mbau — First Time of presid- 
ing over the District Meeting — School — Voyage to Eotuma — 
Bevival — Verani's Conversion — Birth and Death — Letter to 
Mr. Calvert — Building, etc. — Another Voyage — Letter to 
Messrs. Williams and Hazlewood — Penitent Prayer Meeting — 
Great Bevival — Letter to Bev. J. Watkin — War and Persecu- 
tion — Beview of the Year. 

Mr. Hunt began the year 1844, in his journal, 
with this entry concerning the past and present : 

" Thus closes another year of mercies. It has 
indeed been such to us, and we have not made 
anything like suitable returns. Lord, be merci- 
ful to us, and still continue to' bless us through 
Jesus alone. 

" I am doing a little in my work, but get on 
slowly. I have been doing something at Mr. 
Gross's Memoir, and a little at Entire Holiness. 
I have more work than I can do, and need more 
time for both private and public duties, and 
especially for pastoral duties. Certainly time is 
not heavy on our hands in these islands. We 
might easily work ourselves to death by doing 



VIWA. 



163 



nothing but what seems necessary to be done. 
Out of many necessary things, I am obliged to 
attend to the most necessary. I feel it difficult 
so to give my heart to God as not to feel anxious ; 
and yet I see clearly that loving God with the 
whole heart is the perfect cure of anxiety. If I 
feel anxious on behalf of any person or thing, it 
shows that I have an inordinate attachment to 
them. I want to love God so as to ]ove every- 
thing else for his sake, so as to have no interest 
or concern apart from him. 4 Thou wilt keep 
him in perfect peace, w T hose mind is stayed on 
thee ; because he trusteth in thee.' I cannot 
fully express what I want ; but I see it 3 and 
trust that the Spirit's interceding grace will 

1 Swell the unutterable groan, 

And breathe my wishes to the throne.' 

" I sometimes feel a little hurried in spirit 
through the multiplicity of cares and duties 
which I have to think about. This shows the 
weakness of my faith, and leads me to pray for 
an increase. I sometimes feel uncertain as to 
the path of duty in particular cases. 

" Last night a thought occurred to me, which 
seemed satisfactory, as to the extent to which a 
Christian should labor for the good of others. 
We are doing too much for others, when we are 
obliged to neglect our own souls, or when we are 

11 



164 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



injuring our health. Our Lord, in his most busy 
days, doubtless found time for private prayer. 
Nay, he was determined to leave both the multi- 
tude and his disciples in order to secure this 
object. We do not, however, see any excess 
likely to injure the body either in our Lord or 
his apostles. The same remark will apply to 
self-denial. Labor and self-denial, to a certain 
extent, are conducive to the health of both body 
and soul ; indeed, it is almost impossible to pre- 
serve either in a state of vigor without both of 
these. But either labor or self-denial, carried to 
excess, is undoubtedly injurious both to body 
and soul. Care of the body was one of the 
things recommended to Timothy by his inspired 
tutor St. Paul. This, then, I think ought to be 
my rule, until I can find another more agreeable 
to Scripture and reason : to labor and deny my- 
self so far as my health will permit, and no 
further. At the same time, I believe that there 
may be instances in which a man is called to 
give up health, and even life itself, for the cause 
of God and the souls of men ; but nothing can 
make this right but a clear sense of duty. Such, 
I believe, was the cause with John Smith ; but 
it would be very wrong in any person to follow 
his example in this respect without his reason. 
]STay, it is impossible that a man may be right in 
imitating Mr. Smith, or any other excellent man, 



VIWA. 



165 



merely from admiring his character, without 
ever inquiring whether it is the will of God that 
he also should destroy himself for the good of 
others. John Smith did not admire the plan he 
adopted, but followed it because he believed it 
was the will of God. He might be mistaken. 
Be it so. ' To his own Master he standeth or 
falleth.' Certainly those are wrong who follow 
him for no other reason than that they and many 
others admired him." 

Mr. Hunt did not seek by these reasonings 
with himself to put a good face upon sloth, or to 
make laziness do duty in the garb of prudence. 
To some, discussions like these would be a vain 
pastime, a beating the boundaries of their un- 
done and uncared-for duty. Not so in his case. 
Inactivity wearies an earnest soul more than 
work. John Hunt was w r ont to say that he 
must be " on full stretch but there were mo- 
ments of intense zeal when, in the ecstasy of feel- 
ing, every faculty doing its utmost, a mysterious 
fear came and warned him that this crisis of 
power touched upon utter weakness. He knew 
that when the shaft flew furthest the bow was 
nearest to breaking ; yet he drew each arrow to 
the head. It was because he felt himself in 
danger of attempting too much that he thus 
argued about the limits of enough. 

Every man in health may work hard, far 



166 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

harder than many suppose, or are likely to find 
out, and there will be in him a vital power mak- 
ing up for all the wear of toil. If a man keeps 
up to that mark he glorifies his manhood ; and 
if a Christian he glorifies his God. But zeal will 
thrust some beyond, so that they win grand suc- 
cess, yet at too heavy a cost. They overdraw 
the current supply of strength, and intrench on 
their capital, and thus their life is shortened. 
Many have done this to gain learning, many to 
win glory, many to get gold, and very many to 
catch pleasure ; and some, but not many, to 
serve the Lord Christ. These last have not 
allowed themselves to yield a slow and exact 
supply of service, but have crushed the rich 
cluster into one brimming cup of " wine which 
cheereth God and man." Might they not have 
done more had they been more careful of them- 
selves?" asks Prudence; and Faith answers: 
"Wait till they all shine out hereafter, to judge 
how one star differeth from another star in 
glory." 

No doubt the missionary was right in recog- 
nizing the principle that in some cases a man's 
duty requires him to live in months the life of 
years. On some special errands of enlightening, 
God's lamps have to send forth so fierce a flame 
that they are the sooner burnt out. It is the 
same duty that calls for the sacrifice, whether 



VIWA. 



167 



the blaze be of zeal or of fagots. Yet, as Mr. 
Hunt points out, no man is justified in seeking 
the flame for the flame's sake. His call must be 
very clear. Whether John Hunt had such a 
call no man can tell. His business was urgent ; 
and he was placed, both as to time and position, 
in such a momentous crisis of the Fiji mission 
that a vast work had to be done in a short space, 
and done not secretly, but with demonstration of 
power. So the man of God wrought till he fell, 
and while he laid down his rules of prudence, 
passed further beyond them every day. Sur- 
veying the wide-spread evil around him, and 
confident that the Gospel committed to him was 
a sufficient remedy for it all, he regarded his 
most diligent service as all too little. Thus he 
writes: "I have now been five years in Fiji. 
How little use I have made of my time ! 
6 Quicken Thou me according to thy word.' " 

Yet this hard sowing-work and tillage brought 
great results of manifold good, and for the sower 
himself the ripe fruit of comfort, which refreshed 
him w T hen his toil was all done. In his last ill- 
ness he said to Mr. Lyth : " This complaint has 
been coming on all the last year. My headache 
has been attended with much fever. Perhaps 
I have sometimes exceeded my strength ; but I 
have no condemnation on that head. I could 
not have done less with a good conscience. Is 



168 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



it not a cause of joy that I have not that to blame 
myself for ?" 

Cause of joy? Yea, verily, as full as that of 
the man whose dying hour shall be lit up with 
the sublime reflection : " "Whatever has been 
done or left undone, I have always taken care 
of myself." 

The following letter is dated " Feb. 10, 1844 :" 

" My dear Brother Calvert, — I am always 
glad of an opportunity of writing to you, and 
much obliged by your losing no opportunity of 
writing to us. It proves that your valuable 
friendship is as constant as I believe it is sin- 
cere. We are well and happy. We had a 
blessed time last night ; much of the sanctifying 
influence of the Spirit was among us. We all 
felt it, and gave God the glory. I wish you 
could have been with us ; yet the same Spirit is 
with you. Only believe, and you shall have the 
same blessed visitation. The 6 times of refresh- 
ing 5 come from the presence of the Lord in 
answer to believing prayer. We have been 
rather dull some time, but are now all quick- 
ened. 

"The good work prospers in our circuit grad- 
ually. We live in uncommon unity as brethren 
and sisters. O may peace be preserved among 
us, and increase yet more and more ! 



VIWA. 



169 



" I am doing a little at translating. I have 
done but little on our subject. I must do more, 
or I shall not get on with anything well. . . The 
Bible is the text-book on the subject. O that I 
may fully understand its meaning, especially in 
the extent which has been so little understood 
by many ! 

" Verani is very anxious to Lotu. Sometimes 
he is almost determined to risk all ; sometimes 
he hopes for a more convenient season. There 
is a great change in him, and in the Viwa peo- 
ple generally ; I mean the heathen. Pray for 
n§, that we may have saving power connected 
with the truth. Believe me," etc. 

Viwa, February 28, 1844. 

"Dear, very dear Brother Calvert, — I 
have heard that Karnisese is about to sail to 
Lau, so I write a line to say we are pretty well. 
O how we long to hear from you ! Your crit- 
ical state of health makes it painful to be long 
without knowing how you are going on. It is a 
cheering thought that our heavenly Father and 
loving Saviour are in every place. We are near 
in him, and we trust you to his power, and wis- 
dom, and love. 

"As to writing, you command me. I do as 
you tell me. I had been a little down about 
inability, etc.; but you stir me up and encour- 



170 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

age me. I send you a 'rough sketch of the 
memoir (of Mr. Cross.) Perhaps you will be 
disappointed in me. I do not feel so fully at 
home as in writing on some other subject. 

"I do not altogether neglect our subject, and 
cannot get on with other things if I do. The 
Lord blesses what I write to my own soul, and 
it furnishes a subject of conversation on a Sab- 
bath evening for me and Mrs. Hunt. Last Sun- 
day night we had : ' Then will I sprinkle clean 
water upon you,' etc. It was a good time. I 
do not exactly preach; we sit down and talk 
about it. Blessed be God ! He makes us very 
happy in our lonely situation. We . are both 
trusting in the precious blood, and expect to 
feel its full efficacy. I wonder how you are 
going on. . . . Make full use of our blessed Jesus 
and all will be well." 

During the earlier months of this year several 
conversions took place, and a good many made 
outward profession of Christianity. Growing 
influence was gained by the administering of 
medicine, and Mr. Hunt had quite a little hos- 
pital at Viwa. Day by day at a fixed time a 
bell was rung, when very frequently as many as 
thirty patients would present themselves, some 
blear-eyed with ophthalmia, some scaly with 
leprosy, and the rest suffering from divers ail- 



VIWA. 



171 



ments. Persons of importance were brought as 
far as ninety miles, to be under the missionary's 
care. He was remarkably successful in his 
treatment, and in many cases the patients joined 
the Lotu. 

War continued to rage, and the heathen part 
of Viwa still caused the missionary much trouble. 
One morning after family prayer news came to 
the Mission-house that a young man had just 
been murdered on account of a crime of which 
there was every reason to believe he was inno- 
cent. Mr. Hunt says : 

" I hastened to the spot on the other side of 
the island, and found the poor fellow laid on his 
back, with one side of his head laid open, and 
part of his brains on the ground. He was still 
struggling and breathing, and seemed to know 
us when we approached him. We had nothing 
with us but a spade. By means of this, however, 
we cut down a tree and got some cocoa-nut leaves 
to make a litter on which to carry him to the 
mission premises. By the time this was done 
the people arrived with a mat and some native 
cloth. We took him into my study, where he 
lay till afternoon and then expired. We buried 
him as a Christian, he having embraced Chris- 
tianity ; and, having never been proved to be 
guilty of the crime laid to his charge, I thought 
it would be wrong to allow him to be buried as 



172 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



a heathen. The murderers were much afraid 
that he would not die, and sent to me to have 
him buried before he was dead. I sent to tell 
them they should have his body if they took it 
by force, but not otherwise ; but to this they 
made no reply. It is said there are two others 
yet who have to be murdered before the affair 
is finished. It has been a gloomy day. It is a 
great trial. 

" We were much cheered by letters from Mr. 
Lyth and Mr. Williams, which were unusually 
affectionate and exceedingly opportune. Thus 
the Lord prepares us for our trials, and sustains 
us under them. We trust also he will sanctify 
them to us, so that we may have a happy issue 
out of them. Fiji is very gloomy at present. 
All is war, murder, and destruction. The war 
between Mbau and Eewa is of the most malig- 
nant kind. Nothing but a revolution in one of 
the places can settle it, humanly speaking. Al- 
most the whole group is rent with discord. Still 
the Lord carries on his work. Two embraced 
Christianity yesterday, and our people are, I 
trust, growing in grace. How muck* mission- 
aries need the prayers of the Church, and the 
promise, ' Lo, I am with you alway, even unto 
the end of the world ! ' 

" The prayers of God's people act in a power- 
ful way on the interests of Fiji. There are now 



VIWA. 



173 



wheels within wheels. Some are moved by be- 
lieving prayer, which will have a mighty influ- 
ence in checking the work of destruction. Fiji 
is not what it once was. It is not under the sole 
dominion of the god of this world. There is a 
Church in Fiji, and Christ will govern the group 
for its establishment and prosperity. 

"May 26. Yesterday (Sunday) was a good 
day, a day of much of the presence of God. 
The prayer-meeting in the morning was unusu- 
ally good. After prayer in the forenoon service 
ten adults were baptized. There was a good 
feeling during the time I was proposing the 
questions to the candidates, and impressing on 
their minds the solemn engagements they were 
then entering into. When they had answered 
the whole of the questions I observed to them 
that angels had witnessed their vows, and per- 
haps saints too ; and if so their former pastor, 
Mr. Cross, had with pleasure witnessed them. I 
■urged them to act consistently with their present 
professions, and with many words exhorted them 
to save themselves from an untoward generation. 
Some alr^dy began to sob and cry, and showed 
that it was with the greatest difficulty they could 
contain themselves. 

"Almost as soon as I commenced baptizing 
the candidates the Queen of Yiwa was com- 
pletely overwhelmed. Her heart seemed liter- 



174 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

ally to be broken ; and, though a very strong 
woman, she fainted twice under the weight of a 
wounded spirit. She revived only to renew her 
strong cries and tears-, so that it was all we could 
do to proceed with the service. The effect soon 
became more general. Several of the women 
and some of the men literallv roared for the dis- 
quietude of their hearts. As soon as the bap- 
tism was concluded as many as could chanted the 
Te Deum. It was very affecting to see upward 
of a hundred Fijians, many of whom were, a few 
years ago, some of the worst cannibals in the 
group, and even in the world, chanting, 'We 
praise thee, O God ; we acknowledge thee to 
be the Lord while their voices were almost 
drowned by the cries of broken-hearted peni- 
tents. I weep while I think of it. What a 
gracious God is our God ! and blessed be his 
glorious name forever ! 

" The queen came to our house after the serv- 
ice, and with a countenance full of sadness 
and eyes full of tears, said, Misi Oniti, au sa 
rere: 'Mr. Hunt, I am afraid.' I directed her 
to the Lamb of God and prayed withAer. She 
requested the use of my study, in which she 
could pour out her soul to God without inter- 
ruption. I of course let her have it, and there 
she prayed until God spoke peace to her soul. 

" We are thankful for this visitation. O that 



VIWA. 



175 



we may be. able to retain the blessed influence 
thus graciously vouchsafed to us, and may it in- 
crease a thousandfold ! Amen." 

Thus was the missionary greatly cheered, and 
he greatly needed it ; for war, attended with 
endless barbarities, raged all round, and hin- 
dered the good work. But here, in the midst 
of the gloom, a light shone out gloriously, mak- 
ing glad those who dwelt in its brightness, and 
drawing the attention of those who lived in the 
surrounding night. Writing to Mr. Williams at 
Somosomo, Mr. Hunt says of the Queen of 
Viwa : 

"She is exposed to many temptations, and 
will be much tried ; but God is able to make her 
stand. This is a drop. O that we may have 
the shower! The devil is very busy. The past 
year has been one of conflict in this place. The 
Lord has been working and so has Satan. O for 
faith ! If Brother Lyth should be stationed 
here there will be a good work ; he has more 
faith than I have, and a better way of bringing 
souls to Christ. 

"This is the best local news I have to com- 
municate. There is much, very much, bad news. 
Fiji is in a dreadful state. But God is working, 
and will work. There is much labor and suffer- 
ing before us, my brother. O that we may get 
and keep at the feet of Jesus, and be clothed 



1*1 Q A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



with humility, patience, love, zeal, and living 
faith ! I have never yet been able to feel all 
the depths of humble love. Once during the 
last year I seemed to sink into nothing, and O 
how sweet it was ! But it was gone in a mo- 
ment. It was to show me what I had not, that I 
might seek it." 

Mr. Hunt's hopes about the queen were for 
the most part realized, and for three years she 
not only remained firm in her religion but be- 
came very zealous in recommending it to others, 
and not without success. After that time she 
fell into unfaithfulness for a while, but was ulti- 
mately and completely restored. Inquiry was 
aroused in the minds of many ; and not only in 
Yiwa, but among the people of the royal town 
of Mbau the good influence was felt, insomuch 
that it was said that the Lotu formed for a time 
the main subject of conversation in Mbau. The 
chiefs were alarmed, for they heard it said openly, 
"All Mbau is turning Christian;" and even some 
of the king's wives had joined the Lotu. The 
old man could not live long, and at his death he 
must be honored by the strangling of many of 
his wives; but if they Lotued they would de- 
clare strangling to be against their creed, and 
thus oppose the due respect belonging to the 
king's funeral. Therefore the Lotu must be 
checked. Many more were ready to renounce 



VIWA. 



177 



their old religion ; but the fear of man prevailed, 
and again the establishing of the mission in Mbau 
was delayed. 

In August the district meeting was held at 
Viwa, and Mr. Hunt had, for the first time, to 
take his place as the chairman. He thus writes 
in his journal : 

"August 10. The ' Triton' arrived off Viwa 
to-day. We saw her yesterday, so that we were 
somewhat prepared for our welcome visitors. 
We were very happy to meet with our old and 
tried friends, Lyth and Calvert, and also to wel- 
come two new ones, Messrs. Watsford and Hazle- 
wood, to Fiji. They appear to be men in every 
way qualified for their work, and I trust will be 
a great blessing to Fiji. Our conversation turned 
chiefly on the work of God in this part of Fiji. 
That we had been graciously visited was plain 
in the increase of our number of professing 
Christians, especially in Mbau. The Mbau chiefs, 
however, have seen good to oppose the work, 
and for a time at least it seemed to feel the in- 
fluence of the opposition. 

"We now began to think of commencing our 
district meeting. This was to me a great trial, 
one of the greatest I have ever had to endure. 
The idea of being chairman of the district seemed 
to affect me but little when the news first reached 
me ; but when I had actually to take the chair, 



178 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

and be thus placed in any sense over my breth- 
ren whom I sincerely thought better than my- 
self, I was so affected that I wept aloud, a rare 
thing for me, especially in the presence of others. 
What my brethren thought of me I don't know, 
but they urged me to commence the meeting, 
which, however, I could not do, and Brother 
Lyth finally commenced for me. After that I 
was able to go on with more comfort and satis- 
faction ; and the kindness and brotherly feeling 
of all were great helps to me in the performance 
of duties for which, above all others, I am 
unfit." 

The meeting went on and ended very happily, 
and the missionaries once more returned to their 
several stations, leaving Mr. Hunt at Viwa, to 
continue his usual work. He had now com- 
menced a writing school, and paid more atten- 
tion to catechizing the young people. On a 
Sunday evening, after the service, about twenty 
of these, with any adults who chose to come, as- 
sembled in his study, ranging themselves round 
the room, while he sat in the midst. He would 
then ask one of them what he remembered of 
the sermon last preached, and make the same 
inquiry of each in turn. One would recollect 
the text, another one of the divisions, or an illus- 
tration, or some particular remark ; and thus the 
sermon was pretty well reconstructed. After 



VIYVA. 



179 



all had answered, they were asked to make any- 
further remarks, or put any questions, as they 
thought fit. Difficulties were removed and ex- 
planations given ; and the class was in great 
favor, especially with the lads, some of whom 
received much advantage from it 

Toward the close of September Mr. Hunt 
made a voyage to Rotuma, a lone island about 
three hundred miles off, where some good was 
being done by native teachers. During this 
journey, which occupied nearly a month, he 
visited several of the more important stations in 
Fiji, and returned encouraged and strengthened 
to Viwa. 

The mission establishment was now consider- ' 
ably increased ; for the war and the ruinous con- 
dition of the house at Rewa had made the leaving 
of that station necessary, so that the two Rewa 
missionaries and their wives were residing at 
Yiwa. In this little company there grew up 
a holier love and quickened zeal ; and they 
"spake often one to another" of the things of 
God and their great enterprise. As far as Mr. 
Hunt was concerned, this association with his 
fellow-laborers was of great importance. He 
had but little fondness for merely business mat- 
ters, and his duties as chairman had thrown upon 
him more business than was either pleasant or 
profitable. He did not go about his preaching 

12 



180 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

work with the wonted happy freedom and sense 
of power, and the life of the native services 
seemed to wane. Several things had hindered 
the mission families from holding a class-meet- 
ing ; but these difficulties were at last overcome, 
and as brethren and sisters they met together in 
that social service to which, beyond all other 
means of human ordering, Methodism has ever 
owed its peculiar strength and vitality. Then 
was that little community baptized with power 
from on high ; a new life seemed to quicken 
them, and in their meetings for Christian fellow- 
ship they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. 

Yery soon the effect of this reviving was seen 
in the native services, and Mr. Hunt says : " I 
began to feel in preaching something of that 
saving influence which I used to feel last year, 
when we were so graciously visited." Just then 
the missionaries were cheered beyond measure 
by an event to which they had looked, and for 
which they had prayed and worked for a long 
time. The young and renowned warrior Yerani, 
the nephew of Namosimalua, the chief of Yiwa, 
became Christian. It was no empty profession 
that he made ; but in the face of strong opposi- 
tion from the powerful Thakombau, and with a 
certainty of consequent loss of influence and 
wealth, he boldly but calmly renounced hea- 
thenism, and bowed the knee in the worship of 



VIWA. 181 

Jehovah. Mr. Hunt says of him : " Yerani has 
done remarkably well since he became a Chris- 
tian. He has abandoned all his wives but one, 
and has been married to her. He attends school 
regularly, and will begin at once to meet in class. 
He has been exceedingly attentive to the preach- 
ing of the word, and to all other means of grace, 
since he began. He has, of course, some curious 
notions, as many people have when they first 
feel the working of Sivine grace. He has dis- 
missed all his servants as well as his wives, and 
wishes to cook his own food, nurse his own child, 
and do such other things, as a kind of penance 
for his past sins. He appears also to be very 
desirous to abandon all connection with Thakom- 
bau and all his concerns, in which he is encour- 
aged by some of his people who have great influ- 
ence over him." 

In the middle of March, 1845, another light 
of joy shone in the missionary's home, w T hen 
another little girl brought blessing to the father's 
and mother's hearts. And verily they needed 
it ; for Hannah, a frail child of unearthly gentle- 
ness, was sickening unto death ; and having done 
her angel errand, she got leave to wait till the 
baby-sister filled her parents' arms, and then, 
with a parting smile, went back to God. The 
baby was a fortnight old when they buried 
Hannah, and the father wrote, in unconscious 



182 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



prophecy, " A small tomb is raised over her dear 
remains, to mark the spot, perhaps, when we are 
living together again in a better world." And 
to Mr. Calvert he wrote thus : 

"Viwa, March 29, 1845. 

" My dear Friend, — Though I have written 
fully to Mr. Lyth, and requested him to let you 
and all the brethren see what I have written, 
yet I cannot help telling you again my sad tale, 
and also my tale of joy. 

" Poor little Hannah ! she is safe and happy 
with God. I have now three in heaven. I thank 
God that they are safe. I feel much my need 
of them now / but O how awful the thought of 
their living to sin against God and be lost ! 
Some of them might have been had they lived. 
God knows ; and he acts according to his knowl- 
edge of things, and not according to ours. Yes, 
it is all right, though very painful. Poor little 
dear ! I did not think I loved her so much ; for 
during the first day after she died she seemed 
essential to my happiness ; I felt as if I could 
not do without her. I feel more reconciled, in- 
deed entirely reconciled, now. My dear wife 
was wonderfully sustained. 

"What a blessing that Yerani has come in 
among us. Thank God! I hope he will be 
faithful. Some person wishes to sell him a 



VIWA. 



183 



canoe for a musket ; but he does not like to give 
one, lest any of the enemy should be shot with 
it. He wishes to be right altogether. He 
wishes to be a poor man, and cook his own food, 
and get to heaven. 

" I have felt some power in prayer for Thakom- 
bau lately, and I think most of us have. The 
Lord can save him. I never thought he could 
save heathens so easily till I saw it. How shall 
we secure his power ? Lord, help us ! O how 
worthless I seem ! I want to be more united to 
Him who is the sinner's all. 

"I am doing a little on our subject. I never 
enjoyed so much as lately, nor was ever so much 
in love with entire holiness. 

" We remain your ever affectionate friends, 

"J. and H. Hunt." 

For two years Mr. Hunt had been busy in 
building a new mission-house, and had now 
completed the first stone house erected in Fiji. 
It cost much labor and watchful oversight, but 
has been a blessing to the mission ever since. 
The stone for lime and for building was brought 
from the reef, often by the missionary's own 
hands. And many a valuable article of cloth- 
ing or comfort from the family store was given 
to pay greedy workmen, who would be satisfied 
with nothing else. When, after all, the house 



184 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



was finished, it was cheerfully given up for the 
use of the mission printing establishment, and 
thence issued the first Fijian New Testament. 

The translation of the Gospel according to St. 
Matthew and the Acts of the Apostles was now 
complete, after much diligent care bestowed 
upon it, and many a walk up and down a favor- 
ite path, where Mr. Hunt would pace for an 
hour together when he was in difficulty about 
the best rendering of any passage. Other mat- 
ters belonging to the educational and general 
work had received full attention, and in May 
Mr. Hunt started once more in Verani's canoe 
to visit the out-stations. 

While on this journey he wrote to the mis- 
sionaries at Somosomo, Messrs. Williams and 
Hazlewood, dating from Solevu, May 23, 1845. 

" I am now, as you will see, visiting the out- 
stations of this circuit. I find things in a very 
encouraging state so far. We have had some 
very good seasons, and the people appear to be 
very much benefited by our visit. To God be 
all the praise ! We have one drawback to our 
pleasure, and that is the somewhat severe illness 
of Verani, our excellent chief, who is with us. 
I trust the Lord will hear prayer and restore him, 
and bless him with grace to go on as he has be- 
gun, zealously serving the Lord. We have his 
large and commodious canoe and most of the 



VI W A. 



185 



Yiwa male population with us ;* the very men 
and canoe that a short time since were in these 
parts for the purpose of destroying their fellow- 
creatures. 'Praise God from whom all blessings 
flow!' 

" I am glad to hear of some turning at Somo- 
somo, and hope that this is the first-fruits of a 
glorious harvest. O that it may be so! You 
have many trials, and I believe God will sanctify 
them to you ; and when he has tried you you 
shall come forth like gold. We obtain blessings 
iff time of trial, and by the instrumentality of 
painful events, which we can obtain in no other 
way ; and this, if there were no other, is a suffi- 
cient reason why we should be tried. I praise 
God most for my trials, and doubt not you do 
the same. Yet a little while and they will be 
over. I feel eternity very near. I do not know 
why, but it seems very near while I write. May 
God make us all quite ready ! Thank God, the 
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth from all 
sin. I was much impressed yesterday with the 
thought of the quantity of the precious blood 
whiph Christ shed. It flowed from his temples 
when they were crowned with thorns, from his 
back when he was scourged with cords, from 
his hands and feet when he was nailed to the 
tree, and from his side when pierced with the 

* A large double canoe carries from eighty to a hundred men. 



186 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



soldier's spear. This thought affects me much. 
The provision to wash us from sin is abundant. 
There is a fountain opened in the house of David 
for the purpose. May we all wash and be 
clean ! 

" But I must conclude. The c Triton ' may 
come before I have another opportunity of writ- 
ing. If she does, I shall hope to see you on our 
way to the district meeting, and have the pleas- 
ure of your company thither. I love you all 
very much, and beg you to love and pray for 
me. Your affectionate brother, 

" John Hunt." 

This visit to the out-stations, the details of 
which were of the ordinary 'kind, ended with 
Mr. Hunt's return, on June 13th, to Viwa, 
where he found all had gone on well during his 
month's absence. A few days afterward Messrs. 
Calvert, Lyth, and "Williams arrived at Yiwa 
from their several stations, where the district 
meeting was commenced. It was then adjourn- 
ed to Lakemba, and in the course of it Mr. 
Hunt preached, with much power, to . his 
brethren on his one great subject of holi- 
ness. 

After the district meeting Mr. Hunt continued 
in his usual course of work, and paid a visit of 
oversight to several stations. On settling down 



VIWA. 



187 



again at Yiwa his mind was taken up with the 
state of the good cause, and with devising means 
for its improvement. He and his brethren w r ere 
looking for larger success. Their own hearts had 
been quickened, and their trust was sound that 
others should share the gift of life ; for there 
is ever the closest relation between the state of 
the workers and the condition of the work, and 
God commits his grace to men's hearts, not as to 
coffers to hoard it, but as to channels to dispense 
it ; and he who receives good, gets with it the 
most effectual charge to do good. Wherefore 
the members of the mission circle, being filled 
with heavenly life themselves, looked to see that 
life spread. Being aware of the dawn, they 
waited for the day. And the day came. 

Mr. Hunt, finding more earnestness of atten- 
tion in the native congregations, suggested that 
a "penitent prayer-meeting" should be held 
every Saturday. It was arranged accordingly ; 
and when the time came an unusually large 
number of people assembled. Mr. Hunt opened 
the service with singing and prayer, and then 
went on to tell the people why such a meeting 
had been called, for the confession of sin, and 
pleading for God's mercy through Jesus Christ. 
He then stated that any one who felt disposed 
was to pray aloud, and Paul, a quiet gentle old 
Christian, began to pray with much feeling. 



188 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



All the people bowed down in solemn recogni- 
tion of the manifest presence of God. And the 
Spirit of life moved upon those prostrate hearts. 
There was a general heaving, and then a sound 
of quiet weeping and emotion that could hardly 
be repressed. Neither could it be checked long. 
A deep groan burst out, and a bitter cry answer- 
ed it; and one after another sobbed, and called 
on Jesus for mercy, until many voices joined in 
prayer and weeping before God. Some would 
have deemed it a sadly discordant noise ; but 
it made true harmony with the praise of watch- 
ing angels. Before long some who had been 
Christians in name for months trusted fully on 
Him whose religion they had hitherto only pro- 
fessed ; and, feeling the joy which comes by 
believing, they prayed on behalf of others, and 
many cried aloud in an agony. The meeting 
closed early, but the work went on. The peni- 
tents w r ent to weep at home, and continued all 
night in prayer. * And now the ingathering 
began, and God's servants rejoiced before him 
"according to the joy in harvest, and as men 
rejoice when they divide the spoil." For 
several days ordinary business was almost sus- 
pended, and from many a house in Yiwa, and 
from the chief's house most of all, could be heard 
far off the sound of those who mourned and cried 
for mercy, mingling with the songs of those who 



VI WA. 



189 



rejoiced in the Lord. In some cases the strong 
feeling produced a ^surprising effect on its sub- 
jects. Most of the women fainted several times 
during their distress, and the anguish of the men 
was almost terrible to hear and see. Some, be- 
ing thrown down on the ground, were hardly 
held by four or five strong men. 

Undoubtedly much of this passionate excite- 
ment could be traced to natural causes, and 
philosophically accounted for. It has not been 
confined to one or two instances, but many 
times and many lands have witnessed the same 
thing. Yet here is much that science has no 
power to analyze ; here are phenomena that 
transcend all philosophy, except the soundest 
philosophy of a childlike trust in God's good 
Spirit. In later days, and nearer home, we have 
been hearing of similar effects^ and have had 
them discussed psychologically, and classified as 
peculiar forms of disease* "Would that the dis- 
ease were epidemic among "all the nations ! for 
a strange and Bound health has come of it. 
Some, fond of playing with edged words, say 
it is largely if not entirely the work of the devil. 
Then may the Churches have bright hope; for 
they never witnessed a more authentic case of 
Satan casting out Satan. " Righteousness, and 
peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost," follow this 
agony of soul, not after a new fashion, but as it 



190 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

was in the beginning, when multitudes, hearing 
Peter preach, were pricked to the heart. When 
men's hearts are elated with common joy will 
they not shout ? When men's hearts are broken 
with sorrow will they not mourn ? And never 
did any sorrow wound the heart like the convic- 
tion of sin. There is no fear so appalling as that 
of God's wrath, no reproach so keen and sting- 
ing as that of guilt in the light of his love. A 
man who knows the love of God for the first 
time as his, and feels himself rid of guilt and 
gifted with pardon, never experienced any such 
joy before. Why, in what moves men most, 
should they be most unnatural ? 

Mr. Hunt remarked about the most violent 
cases of distress : " There was nothing silly or 
wild in what they said ; indeed, we were aston- 
ished at the manner in which they expressed 
themselves, both in prayer and praise, and in 
their exhortations to *others, after they found 
peace. Generally, after* they obtained the fa- 
vor of God and became a little calm, they would 
begin to exhort those about them with amazing 
power and fluency." Again he writes : " Some 
of the cases were the most remarkable I have 
ever seen, heard of, or read of; yet only such 
as one might expect the conversion of such 
dreadful murderers and cannibals would be. 
If such men manifest nothing more than ordi- 



VIWA. 



191 



nary feeling when they repent, one would sus- 
pect that they are not yet fully convinced of 
sin." 

This state of things continued for some time, 
during which the missionaries and teachers were 
employed continually — often at night as well as 
by day — in visiting those who were in distress 
about their souls. In the public services the 
excitement was very great, and tears of joy or 
sorrow flowed everywhere, the preacher and 
people sometimes joining together in overwhelm- 
ing emotion. The Te Deum was chanted with 
a nobler reality of worship than was ever reach- 
ed by robed clerks and choristers at a warrior's 
triumph. It was the fit victory-song of redeem- 
ed souls; and the dark faces quivered with joy 
as they answered one another in that heathen 
land) saying, " We praise thee, O God ! we ac- 
knowledge thee to be the Lord." But when 
they reached the words, " Thou art the king of 
glory, O Christ !" voices failed ; and streaming 
eyes, and broken cries of " Jesu ! Jesu !" lifted 
a more eloquent praise to God. 

" During the first week of the revival," says 
Mr. Hunt, "nearly one hundred persons pro- 
fessed to obtain the forgiveness of sins through 
faith in Jesus Christ." Again : " The result has 
been most happy ; the preaching of the word has 
been attended with more power than before the 



192 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

revival. Many who were careless and useless 
have become sincere and devoted to God. The 
experience of most has been much improved, and 
many have become, by adoption and regenera- 
tion, the sons of God. Others have been much 
established, and all feel that the revival has con- 
stituted a new era in their religious history. It 
has spread through the circuit. Nakorotumbu, 
Nandi, Mbua, and other places, indeed, I think 
every place, more or less, has been blessed.* 
The people that sat in darkness have seen a 
great light. Many never understood till now 
what we have been preaching to them for some 
years. We were delighted when we last visited 
the out-stations in this circuit. We left them 
all alive to God, and our ministrations in the 
word and sacraments were most signally owned 
of God. The mats of the chapel were wet with 
tears of the communicants at the table of the 
Lord ; and in many instances the ministers were 
scarcely able to minister because of the glory of 
the Lord." 

Mr. Hunt gives his views on the general sub- 
ject of Revivals in a letter to the Rev. J. Wat- 
kin, of New Zealand, written in 1846. He re- 
fers to the late success at Yiwa, and then to 

* No news of the good work at Viwa had reached Ono ; yet at 
this very time there was a great reviving in that far distant island, 
and many conversions were the result. 



VIWA. 



193 



the remarkable work of conversion which had 
gone on in the Friendly Islands since. 

"They have had another wonderful revival 
at Tonga ; something like the one you w T ere fa- 
vored to promote several years ago, (1833, 1834,) 
the fruit of which has been very great. I am 
quite persuaded that this is the blessed means 
which God has particularly chosen for convert- 
ing the world. It is a way of saving souls 
which lays the pride of man in the dust. We 
like to have souls saved in connection w T ith the 
gradual use of means, so that we can philosophi- 
cally trace the event to its cause. But the 
blessed God goes out of our ordinary way, 
pours contempt on our philosophy, and, by 
means we should never have thought of, accom- 
plishes his own purposes. So be it, blessed 
Saviour! Do thine own work in thine own 
way ; and especially take care of thine own 
honor, about which men in general are so care- 
less. I know you say, Amen. 

"The work in Fiji has been very remarkable, 
associated, of course, with much that men would 
call ' extravagance, enthusiasm,' etc. ; such as 
women praying till they faint, and then recover- 
ing from their fainting only to pray till they 
faint again ; men in such agonies of distress, or 
such ecstasies of joy, as to require three or four 
persons to prevent their injuring themselves or 



194 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

others; the suspension of all worldly business, 
and exclusive devotedness to the salvation of 
their own souls and the souls of others ; a total 
—or nearly total — neglect of food, sleep, and all 
conversation or thoughts of anything but sal- 
vation. 

" This is enthusiasm ! I pity the Christian 
minister who can call it such. The common 
way of expecting to get to heaven without using 
the means, or by using them ineffectually, is the 
true enthusiasm, We have enough of this in 
Fiji, and hail the day which has now dawned 
upon us, the day of His power." 

It was impossible that such a mighty energy 
of good should work in that land of wickedness 
without rousing the opposition of the evil which 
it assaulted. While the Gospel brought its 
blessings of peace and love to Yiwa, the old re- 
ligion of the people seemed to have put on the 
strength of despair, and cursed and crushed them 
as it never had before. On either side of them, 
and very near, the Viwan Christians watched 
the fury of the most terrible war that Fiji had 
known, marked by barbarous cruelties more 
fiendish than the oldest could remember. The 
new converts were exposed to danger because 
of their refusal to join Mbau in the war with 
Eewa ; and Thakombau himself stated that, had 



vi wa. 195 

it not been for the presence of the missionaries, 
Viwa should certainly have been destroyed. 
To a few poor Christians on the island of Ovalau 
he sent word that they must either give up their 
Christianity, or come to Mbau and be cooked. 
They replied : 

"It is very easy for us to come to Mbau and 
be cooked, but it is very difficult to renounce 
Christianity." 

Soon after they received a message, telling 
them that Yiw r a was to be destroyed, and that 
they must go to the doomed place and share its 
punishment. They all went. 

The Christians seemed to be made only more 
faithful by the discipline of persecution and 
annoyance to which their religion subjected 
them; and, to the joy of their teachers, they 
stood firm and prospered until the storm passed 
away, and there was peace once more. 

As the war with Rewa neared its crisis its 
horrors increased, and the persecution of the 
Christians became more malignant. At the be- 
ginning of December a number of Somosomo 
people came to Mbau. Thirty captured Rewans 
were cooked for their entertainment, and it was 
noised abroad that the Christians should furnish 
the next meal. A plot was laid for the destruc- 
tion of Viwa, but it failed. 

The Mbau king ordered that no food should be 
13 



196 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

taken to Yiwa; but before its inhabitants felt 
the pressure of the prohibition Rewa fell by 
treachery, and its smoking ruins were the scene 
of a bloody pillage. The king, with his army, 
arrived .at Yiwa, fresh from the slaughter. The 
great man came, in savage mood, to the mis- 
sion-house just as breakfast was ended. Mr. 
Hunt had gone into the town, but Mr. Watsford 
was at home. Thakombau sat down by Mrs. 
Hunt, who offered him tea and food. He drank 
the tea, but flung the bread back, and asked 
haughtily for Mr. Hunt. He had been sent for, 
and a messenger was dispatched for the Viwan 
chief Namosimalua, who came presently, enter- 
ing the house, with submissive respect, on his 
hands and knees. As he crossed the room the 
king said, " Split his head with an ax!" Just 
then Mr. Hunt's voice w T as heard, saying, as if 
all were well, " 8a hloma Saka — My love to 
you, sir!" This made a diversion, and saved 
the Viwan's head. Thakombau then declared 
that he had come to execute his threats. Mr. 
Hunt begged him to adjourn to the stone house, 
and there the missionaries pleaded with him 
for a long while to be merciful. 

The Christian natives were very firm. Two 
of them meeting near the mission-house shook 
hands warmly, and, with a cheerful smile, ex- 
claimed. "Heaven is very near!' 5 They even 



YIWA. 



197 



prepared food to set before their enemies. They 
retired to the bush — their usual place for prayer 
— and many a voice was heard there in exulting 
praise, and many praying for the salvation of 
their persecutors. 

The heathens said: " O, if you missionaries 
would go away ! It is your presence that pre- 
vents us killing them. If you would' go away, 
you would not have reached Moturiki " (an 
island close by) " before all these Viwa people 
would be in the ovens !" 

While the consultation was going on in the 
stone house, Lydia^ Yatea, the converted queen, 
entered, and on her knees, with many tears, 
besought her kinsman Thakombau to join the 
Lotu which he threatened to destroy. She told 
how happy the religion of Jesus made her, and 
how it fortified her against all fear of death. 
The great chief wondered at this strange relig- 
ion, w r hich enabled its disciples to be so happy 
in prospect of the ovens. 

All that clay the returning warriors, armed 
with clubs and muskets, were arriving in Yiwa, 
until the place was filled and surrounded with 
the forces of Mbau, against whom the few Chris- 
tians were powerless. But they showed no 
wish to resist. They were God's people, and 
he in whom they trusted cared for them. In 
proportion as the heathens grew in number, so 



198 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



they seemed to waver in purpose, until they 
said, " We came to kill these people and we 
cannot lift a hand." Toward night they with- 
drew quietly, acknowledging that the Christians 5 
God was too strong for them. As they passed 
through the bush to their canoes, many of the 
converted Viwans whom they had come to de- 
stroy accompanied them, carrying for them the 
clubs which had been brought for the expected 
slaughter. 

After this the dark and imminent storm 
passed away, and the missionaries and their 
charge were left in comparative freedom. 

Amid all these things Mr. Hunt kept simply 
and earnestly to his work, rejoicing to see the 
Gospel proving itself still to be " the power of 
God unto salvation " in the case of many. He 
thus reviews his own feelings and doings during 
the year: 

" In my studies I have paid some attention to 
theology, especially to the doctrine of entire 
sanctification. I have made some improvement 
in Greek and Hebrew, and also in Fijian. 
Matthew and Acts have engaged a good deal of 
my attention in the work of translating ; but I 
have not confined myself to these. I have paid 
a little attention to general literature ; but it is 
little indeed that a missionary can do in that 
way. Spiritual things have been too much neg- 



VIWA. 



199 



lected ; yet I have been systematically attent- 
ive to devotional duties, and have enjoyed very 
much of the presence of God. So far as I can 
judge, the past year has been the happiest and 
most useful of my life. O that it may be the 
beginning of good days ! and that my path of 
holiness, happiness, and usefulness may be ' as 
the shining light, which shineth more and more 
unto the perfect day !' 

" I propose to myself three things in which to 
take a part, according to the ability which God 
gives me: The conversion of the Fijians to 
Christianity, not in name, but in power; the 
translation of the Scriptures into their language ; 
and the revival of Christian holiness at home. 
I can assist in the two first by my presence and 
actual exertions ; in the last only with my pen. 
Thank God for the success which has attended 
my labors during the past year in the first two 
parts of my work ! and I ought to praise him 
for what he has enabled me to do in the third. 
I have written, prayed, and lectured on the sub- 
ject, and have, at any rate, increased in knowl- 
edge myself in this most important of all mat- 
ters to a Christian missionary. In the practice 
of medicine, in instructing youth, and in visiting 
from house to house, I have not been either so 
diligent or so successful as I could wish. I 
think I might have done more in all these re- 



200 A MISSXONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



spects. O that I may be more faithful for the 
future ! 

" As a family, we have been much blessed. 
We have had better health, and every needful 
blessing. 35 



VIWA. 



201 



CHAPTEE XII. 

VIWA: 1846, 1847, 

Visitation Tour — Letter to Mr. Williams — Letter to Mr. Cal- 
vert — Letter Home — Translating 1 — Esteem of the- Natives — 
Letter to Mr. Calvert — Another Tour — Journal — Secular 
Work of a Missionary — Journal continued — Sermon — Eeturn 
— Another Child — A new Task — Extracts from Mr. Lawry's 
Journal — Letter to Dr. Hannah — Letter to Lincolnshire. 

At the beginning of 1846 Mr. Hunt, accom- 
panied by Mr. Watsford, paid another visit to 
the out-stations, the condition of which he gen- 
erally found to be very encouraging. The jour- 
ney ended on February 8th, when he writes : 
"We reached our home in peace and safety. 
Thank God, I have never enjoyed a trip so much, 
and was never so much assisted in my work, or 
so happy in my soul. I pray that it may be a 
lasting blessing to me and the people. We found 
all well at home, which completes our happiness. 
None but a missionary knows his sorrows or joys. 

" 9th. Put things a little straight, and began 
to prepare Matthew for the press. I have now 
several months of hard study before me, and 
have much need of divine help. Truly we may 
say, Our sufficiency is of God." 

The adjoined extracts, from a letter to Mr. 



202 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

Williams, reveal much of the writer's inner self, 
and manifest the close and loving fellowship he 
had with his brethren. 

" Viwa, April 23, 1846. 

" My dear Brother Williams, — As our 
General Letter contains public news, I shall 
satisfy myself by giving you a little peep into 
our private affairs. We are all busy, as usual. 
I have been preparing Matthew and Acts 
for the press, which I find a laborious task, 
though I translated them last year. My plan 
is, 1. To compare my old translation with the 
Greek as carefully as I have time. v 2. To hear 
a native read it, and inquire about every obscure 
or doubtful place. 3. To write a fair copy. I 
manage a chapter a day, on an average, besides 
my other almost innumerable duties. But for 
me it is hard work. As I administer all the 
medicine, purchase food for the three families, 
and attend to nearly all calls from without, of 
every kind, I am as fully employed as possible. 

" I am also, in addition to my regular studies, 
giving weekly lectures on entire sanctification, 
an outline of the first of which I send you. I 
really do not know when I wrote my journal ; 
not for want of inclination, but actually for want 
of time. 

" My worthy colleagues are as fully employed 
as myself. They have looked over Matthew, 



VIWA. 



203 



and are going over John together. ... I wish 
to confine my own attention to three particulars : 
The conversion of the people from heathenism to 
Christianity, and from the power of Satan to 
God ; the translation of the Scriptures ; and the 
revival, of the great doctrine of entire sanctifi- 
cation among all with whom I have any influ- 
ence. I very much doubt my ability to do much 
toward the last desirable object; but, by the 
grace of God, I shall attempt something — per- 
haps something in the way of authorship — 
though about that I am not fully decided, and 
shall depend more on the judgment of friends 
than on my own. Meantime, to maintain a clear 
consciousness of the pardoning love of God, to 
be cleansed from all sin, to be filled with all 
the fullness of God, and to walk in the light as 
he is in the light, are the daily subjects of my 
prayers for myself. I make it a point to bring 
these subjects daily before the throne of grace. 
O that I did so with becoming fervor, and a 
realizing faith in Jesus ! 

" I find it profitable to be systematic in my 
devotions, not only as to time, but as to the 
blessings prayed for. After I have gone 
through the topics just referred. to, in the order 
in which I have named them, I endeavor to ad- 
dress our heavenly Father as the God of nature, 
and pray to be preserved from all natural evil, 



204 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

and to enjoy all natural good, both bodily and 
mental. Next, as the God of providence in 
general, as the ruler of all the nations of the 
earth ; when I pray to be delivered from all po- 
litical evils and errors, and to be blessed with 
everything in this respect which will make me 
more useful ; such as wisdom, and influence 
over those in power, so far as I may be connect- 
ed with them. My next petition has reference 
to the blessed God, as the Father of all the 
families of the earth ; and family blessings and 
preservation from family evils are the burden 
of my petition. Next I endeavor to address 
the great Head of the Church ; and here my 
brothers, the cause, etc., are remembered. 
Lastly, I try to sum up all, and apply to the 
ever-blessed fountain of all grace for that in- 
struction, help, and comfort that I need. The 
Lord's Prayer concludes. Sometimes I feel this 
part of my prayer is rather an expression of 
confidence than a cry of need to God. I feel 
as if I could realize what I pray for, and lose 
myself in God as the God of providence, as the 
Father of the families of the earth, as the Head 
of the Church, and the fountain of all grace and 
blessing. The former part of the prayer ex- 
presses much more than I experience ; but I must 
continue to pray till I receive the full answer. 
" I said I should write a private letter. And 



VIWA. 



205 



so I have. I have made you acquainted with 
more than any other person knows. My most 
private concerns are those between God and 
myself. I have told now for the first time to 
man what I am continually telling my heaven- 
ly Father. I felt led to do so, and hope it may 
not be unacceptable to you." 

It was characteristic of Mr. Hunt, whose heart 
had no power to conceal anything that moved 
it deeply, that all his letters about this time 
contained much about his three cherished ob- 
jects of effort. Thus he writes to Mr. Calvert : — 

" My Dear Friend and Brother, — Our 
work is going on gradually. I hope to have 
it ready to put into your hands by the dis- 
trict meeting. I want more experience, and 
more acquaintance with Christians. I cannot 
learn much that suits my purpose from books ; 
and I feel the want of observation very much, 
which a year or two among the good Methodists 
in England would give me. I think the work 
must not be published for some years to come. 
It is not yet ripe. It is too meager. It is my 
constant prayer that we may be able to do some- 
thing that may serve the cause of holiness at 
home, as well as labor successfully in these 
islands. I have my mind on three points : The 
conversion of the Fijians, the translation of the 



206 A MISSION AEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

Scriptures, and the revival of Scriptural holi- 
ness in our dear country. 

" I have very much ardent love for you, and 
am thankful for your friendship. I have been 
much blessed this year, though my prosperity 
has not been so uniform as I could wish. I hold 
by the Cross. I need Jesus very, very much 
indeed. I trust in him, and in him alone." 

The above is dated from Ovalau, where Mr. 
Hunt was visiting the society. About ten days 
after (July 3) he writes again to Mr. Calvert 
from Viwa: "I am going on with our work 
gradually. I have been lecturing oh the subject 
for several weeks, on the Friday evening, which 
has been a help to me. I should like to go 
through the whole once more, and then I think 
I must give it up. The subject is all-important, 
and forms a part of what I consider the real 
business of my comparatively useless life. I 
feel a strong desire to succeed to the utmost of 
God's will ; but I hinder myself. I am not 
self-denying enough. I want more of the 4 per- 
fection 5 spoken of by James, (iii, 2.) I feel a 
particular defect in this. I am generally very 
happy and cheerful, and am in danger of saying 
too much. How easy to grieve the blessed 
Spirit ! I have faith in Jesus, and love him 
much. Pray for me. 



REWA. 



# 207 



" My dear brother, you must not distress your- 
self about anything but vital matters, and in 
these i by prayer and supplication, with thanks- 
giving, let your requests be made known unto 
God ; and the peace of God, which passeth all 
understanding, shall keep your heart and mind 
through Christ Jesus.' 

" My health is pretty good. On the whole I 
am worse for wear, and yet I am not ill. I hope 
Mary will continue to pray and love Jesus, and 
that Philip and Anne* will follow hard after. 
"What a blessing to have a prospect of a family 
of praying children ! May the God of families 
still bless you ! " 

The following passages from a letter home 
show how the natural affections of the mission- 
ary were sanctified, though in nowise abated. 
Especially the old yearning love for his mother, 
which had begotten in his boyish heart the first 
anxiety he had ever felt about salvation, shows 
its most earnest outgoing still in the same di- 
rection. 

"Dear Parents and Friends, — Your letter 
dated April 21, 1845, reached us in August, 
1846 4 We were very thankful to see a letter 
from you, however short. You were well 
when 3'ou wrote ; but you do not say whether 

* Mr. Calvert's children. 



208 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



dear mother is happy in the enjoyment of the 
favor of God or not. I should like to know 
particularly how your souls prosper. This is 
the main thing. If you love God, all things 
will work together for your good. If you do 
not, nothing is a blessing to you. Your desire 
to see us is perfectly natural; but you must 
leave it entirely to God, He sent us out, and 
he alone must send us back again. If we ought 
to return we shall. If we ought not, you would 
not wish us to return. What a blessing that 
we are employed in so good a work ! What are 
we that we should be honoured of God to 
preach the Gospel to the heathen? If the 
apostle Paul considered it a favor to be so em- 
ployed, how should w r e adore divine condescen- 
sion which has raised us up from ignorance, pov- 
erty, and sin, to sit among the princes of his 
people ! 

4 What am I, thou glorious God ! 

And what my father's house to thee, 
That thou such mercy hast bestowed 
* On me, the vilest reptile, me ? 
I take the lesson from above, 
And wonder at thy boundless love.' 

" I trust my dear friends feel thankful that we 
are so well employed, and will consider it a 
blessing that we are laboring and suffering in so 
good a cause." 

After speaking of domestic affairs and the 



VIWA. 



209 



state of the mission, Mr. Hunt continues : " I 
only wish my dear parents and brothers and 
sisters, and all my relations, enjoyed what many 
of these Fijians enjoy. Many who a little 
while ago were among the worst cannibals in the 
world, are now rejoicing in God their Saviour. 
A few years since they were more like incarnate 
demons than men. Now they are 6 sitting at the 
feet of Jesus, clothed and in their right mind.' 
Some have died happy in the Lord since we 
have been at Viwa. One who lately died 
spent his last hours in exhorting his friends to 
persevere in loving and serving God. He said : 
' I am safe. I have no doubt that I shall go to 
heaven. You be diligent ; and when I am 
gone, remember that you have family prayer 
three times a day.' Formerly, when Fijians 
died, they exhorted their friends to avenge their 
wrongs by killing those who had injured them. 
But now, thanks be to God ! some of them die 
in such a way that one can pray, ' Let my last 
end be like his.' 

" But what, my dear friends, is the secret of 
all this ? How is it that these cannibals are get- 
ting saved, and many who are called Christians 
are dying in their sins, and going to eternal 
misery ? This is a serious question. The only 
answer I can give is, that the heathen believe 
the Gospel, the Christian heathen do not. We 



210 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



preach the same Gospel which you hear at 
home, and preach it in the same way ; and there 
is not, I believe, in general, more of the divine 
influence attending the ministry here than at 
home ; and yet, all things considered, it is much 
more successful. The reason must be, as I said 
before, that the Fiji cannibals believe the glad 
tidings; English Christians, many of them, do 
not. 

" We have, as you may suppose, much oppo- 
sition as well as success. Sometimes ' the 
heathen rage, and the people imagine a vain 
thing. The kings of the earth set themselves, 
and the rulers take counsel together against the 
Lord and against his Christ.' But hitherto the 
Lord has been our deliverer. Our mercies are 
many and great, and our trials are of the same 
character. There is nothing ordinary here. 
You can form no idea in a Christian country of 
our joys and sorrows. We are perfectly happy 
in our family, in our own souls, and in the 
work of God. We have most excellent fellow- 
laborers, and many, very many dear friends in 
various parts of England ; some of them you 
know, others you do not know. We have all 
we need. ' Praise God, from whom all bless- 
ings flow !' " 

During the latter part of 1846 Mr. Hunt was 
working harder than ever at translating, while 



VIWA. 211 

all his other engagements were followed out with 
unabated zeal. At the district meeting held in 
August, it had been resolved that Mr. Lyth 
should remove to Viwa to assist in completing 
the Fijian version of the New Testament, and in 
carrying it through the press. In October he 
arrived, and thus a fresh impetus was given to 
this important branch of the work. Not that 
Mr. Hunt felt free to do less, for he must still 
be " on full stretch." In his little study, which 
was built at the end of the garden and over- 
looked the sea, he toiled on with an energy 
increasing as he proceeded. It is true he took 
some time for recreation, when be sallied forth 
to walk, carrying his little girl in his arms, and 
the Greek and English Testaments and Fijian 
translation in his hands, in which times of recre- 
ation his friends have passed close by him with- 
out being noticed. It was a pain to him to be 
severed from his favorite employment unless 
some other part of his high calling demanded 
attention. No wonder that what was done so 
lovingly was done well. Others engaged them- 
selves in the same matter, and did important 
service ; but several things contributed to put 
Mr. Hunt at the head of the translating depart- 
ment. He had studied the language diligently 
with special reference to this one object; more- 
over, the version was to be in the dialect of the 

14 



212 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

district in which he resided ; and when his 
brethren saw the first specimens of his transla- 
tion they said at once, " This is what we want," 
and by common consent put the managment in 
his hands. 

The fruits of this daily toil were valuable, and 
they were costly. Mr. Hunt lost strength while 
he gained progress. The loss hardly showed 
itself yet, although now and then anxious eyes, 
made skillful with love, marked signs of failing, 
only slight, but causing fear. Perhaps the mis- 
sionary himself was aware of some such tokens : 
a hint now and then in his letters seems to 
show this. But the foreboding never made him 
slacken his effort. He saw the greatness of the 
work, and the fear of coming weakness made 
him crowd more effort into every succeeding 
week. He had now but two objects to labor 
for, since he had somewhat hastily wound up 
his letters on entire sanctification, and sent 
them to Mr. Calvert. He had managed the 
building of a large and commodious mission- 
house, when the white people at Ovalau had 
rendered valuable service out of their respect 
for Mr. Hunt. This was now finished, and the 
beginning of 1847 found the missionary occu- 
pied with nothing but translating, and the vari- 
ous branches of strictly mission work. 

One thing was noticed and admired by all. 



VIWA. 



213 



However closely Mr. Hunt was engaged, he 
never hesitated to attend to any one who needed 
his help. Neither was the help given grudg- 
ingly, but' with as cheerful a good-will as if the 
student had never been interrupted. The na- 
tives — even the heathen part of them — learned 
to reverence and almost love this man of God. 
They knew that they could reckon on his friend- 
ship, and that his word never failed. Their 
trust in his truthfulness was remarkable, and 
no doubt was all the stronger because of the 
contrast with the habitual falsehood among 
themselves, and the gross injustice which had 
marked the dealings of some of the white 
traders in Fiji. This was illustrated when a 
levy was imposed on certain districts, to raise 
wherewith to enable their chief to fulfill a con- 
tract made with a colonial trader. So many 
gallons of cocoa-nut oil were to be supplied, and 
in one instance — very likely in more — the 
trader understated the size of the casks which 
he sent ashore to be filled. The people detected 
the cheat and protested ; thereupon the captain 
declared that the missionary had deceived them 
as to the quantity to be supplied. They said 
promptly, " Will the sun rise to-morrow?" "Of 
course it will." " Then so certain is the word 
of Misi Oniti," (Mr. Hunt.) 

In the earlier part of 1847 the translation of 



214 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS, 

the New Testament was complete. Mr. Calvert 
returned the letters on entire sanctification, 
which again passed under the careful revision 
of their author, who worked at them as long as 
he was able, but left some unfinished at last. 
On April 26 he writes : 

" My dear Brother Calvert, — I have been 
through the letters on entire sanctification 
again. They are another stage forward. I am 
not satisfied with them, and was of opinion that 
they ought not to be printed ; but Brother Wats- 
ford touches a string that affects me. He says 
they have been made a blessing to him, and he 
believes they will be to others. This is the 
point with me. If they are really calculated to 
do good I shall be satisfied, and, I trust, thank- 
ful. I am determined now, more than ever, to 
try to live as I have written, and prove, by my 
experience and conduct, that these things are so. 
Help me by your prayers, letters, etc. 

"Thank God, he has given me health and 
strength to go through the New Testament. 

" I am now preparing for my voyage. I ex- 
pect to be away six weeks. May the good Mas- 
ter be with me ! I have felt him very precious 
the few past days ; but I am an unfaithful serv- 
ant; yet I feel he is mine, but w T ant to feel it 
much more. 



VIWA. 



215 



" Be sure you take care of your health, and 
be very systematic and earnest in your devo- 
tional exercises. I have been reviewing my 
own, and*find I have greatly declined. I find, 
if devotion is not made a serious business, it 
becomes mere formality. I have been prevent- 
ed for some time from attending as I ought to 
these duties, and it seems to me that I am just 
where I was wdien I left them off, and the work 
too, both among the Christians and heathen. 

"I have now commenced afresh, and have 
written for my own use a plan for the regula- 
tion of my private devotions, which I will send 
you. 

"I. Times for private devotion. From six 
to seven in the morning. From nine to ten in 
the evening. 

"II. Devotional exercises. 1. In the morn- 
ing, while dressing, repeat a hymn of praise or 
a Psalm, or recount the mercies of God during 
my past life, and especially those acts of mercy 
which appear most particularly to call for 
special acknowledgment. As soon as you are 
dressed, praise God on your knees. 

"2. Read a portion of Scripture. I have 
commenced Mr. Wesley's Testament, and intend 
to read a chapter morning and evening, with 
the Notes, if possible, daily. 

"3. Pray especially for the following bless- 



216 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



ings. (1.) Pardon of all past sins. And do not 
be satisfied without more and more clearly 
realizing your acceptance. (2.) For entire 
holiness in a similar way. (3.) To be filled 
with the Ploly Ghost throughout the day. 
(4.) For bodily, mental, and spiritual blessings ; 
including protection from all evil, and the 
bestowal of bodily strength, mental vigor, 
spiritual guidance, preservation, comfort, etc. 
(5.) For family, political, and ecclesiastical 
blessings ; including deliverance from all family 
evils, all political harm to self and people, and 
from all evils in the Church, and for help in 
attending to every part of my work. (6.) Pray 
particularly for individuals, such as relations, 
friends, brethren, and others. (7.) Conclude 
with the Lord's Prayer ; enlarging on each 
petition as circumstances require and the Spirit 
assists. 

" I find it a good plan to mix meditation and 
self-examination with prayer, and to walk the 
room to meditate. It prevents dullness and 
drowsiness. 

" Before praying for the pardon of sin think 
what particular sins you have been guilty of, 
and confess them particularly on your knees. 
So of entire holiness. Think what particular 
things which are wrong still remain in you, 
and in what you are still particularly deficient, 



VIWA. 



217 



"In praying for bodily, mental, spiritual, 
family, political, and ecclesiastical blessings, I 
find it very profitable to contemplate the char- 
acter of God, as the God of nature and mind, 
the fountain of spiritual good, the Father of all 
the families of the earth, the King of kings, and 
the Head of the Church. 

"I think the whole can be performed in an 
hour. The evening is the same as the morning. 
I give you this plan, not as a new or excellent 
one, but one that I have found useful. I follow- 
ed it in most of its parts a long time since. For 
some months I have not been so particular, hav- 
ing yielded to the pressure of work. I have now 
returned to it, and not without a sensible bless- 
ing. God be merciful to me, a most unprofita- 
ble servant ! Amen. 

"My dear wife and child are well, and we 
are all in peace and comfort The work is 
much the same as when I last wrote. Our peo- 
ple are undergoing a trial from Satan. This is 
evidently his revival time. But our God will 
bruise him under our feet. O that it may be 
shortly !" 

The voyage referred to in the above letter 
was the usual visitation tour to the out-stations 
of the circuit. On starting, Mr. Hunt thus 
commences his journal : 



218 A MISSION AEY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



" April 27, 1847. This morning I parted 
with my dear wife and friends at Yiwa, and set 
sail for this place, Kavula, with the intention of 
paying a pastoral visit to the various places in 
this circuit. We had a pleasant day, which en- 
abled me to read part of Reed's ' Advance- 
ment,'* which X found searching and humbling. 
Indeed, it was the means of increasing what I 
have felt for some time, a conviction that I must 
be a different man, both as a Christian and a 
minister, before I can answer all my Saviour's 
great design in sending me to Fiji. We reach- 
ed our port late at night, but had a sweet moon 
and good pilots. We met Paul a quarter of a 
mile on his way to Viwa with a note from Eatu 
Elijah, (Verani,) stating that a Mba chief and 
one or two others had embraced Christianity. 
Elijah had been to Kavula, and wished to go on 
to Yiwa, but did not know what to do with his 
new converts, about whom he feels much con- 
cerned. I think it is likely we may have to go 
to Mba ; but whom to place there as a teacher 
I know not. Lord, direct ! 

"28£A. I made the necessary inquiries this 
morning respecting those who had been prepar- 
ing for baptism. In the afternoon I married two 
couples, baptized seventeen adults and two chil- 

* " The Advancement of Religion, the Claim of the Times. By 
Andrew Eeed D.Du" 



VIWA. 



219 



dren, and preached from, 6 1 indeed baptize you 
with water,' etc. I had a very bad headache, 
but that did not prevent a blessing. 

u 29th. This morning I preached from, ' Si- 
mon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me V etc. I after- 
ward questioned several of the society respect- 
ing their experience on this one point, asking 
each, J Do you now feel you love Jesus V They 
all answered in the affirmative. O that all their 
conduct may show that they spoke the truth ! 
I afterward administered the Lord's Supper, and 
we found a special blessing. I was led to dwell 
particularly on Christ's presence in the sacra- 
ment. Perhaps this truth has been so much 
perverted by papists that Protestants have gone 
to the opposite extreme. There is a presence of 
Christ in the Lord's Supper which is real to 
every believer. Of course it can only be a 
spiritual presence ; for what else can be present 
to the spirit? Popery holds Christ's natural 
presence. Real presence does not appear to me 
to be a good word. The presence of Christ in 
the eucharist is undoubedly real, but not his 
bodily presence. The omnipresence of God is 
undoubtedly real, yet not natural or bodily, 
but spiritual, and therefore a proper object of 
faith. Such also is the presence of Christ in the 
eucharist. 

"In the afternoon the members of society 



220 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



paid us a visit at the house of the teacher. They 
bought a quantity of yams, and other property, 
as an expression of their love, and sang the Te 
Deum before the house. It was very affecting 
to see them. They appeared to be sincere in 
their gratitude to God, and their love to us for 
his sake. Our teacher here is an excellent 
man ; but a missionary is needed. Wesley (a 
teacher) preached a useful sermon this after- 
noon, which I expect closes our services here. 

"30th. This morning we left our friends at 
Kavula and proceeded to Nairara, where we 
found our teacher and people somewhat sur- 
prised at our appearance. We had a conversa- 
tion with the chief of the place on the subject 
of embracing Christianity ; but he appeared un- 
willing for the present. JSTamosimalua and 
Elijah had both tried to pursuade him but in 
vain. A chief from Na Viti Levu persuaded 
him not to comply, but to wait. • I urged upon 
him an instant compliance, and explained to 
him, as affectionately as I was able, the awful 
hell which is the portion of those who refuse and 
rebel. He did not seem much affected, but lis- 
tened very attentively. We left him without a 
definite answer either way, but with the persua- 
sion that he would soon embrace the truth. At 
night the teacher came, requesting us to remain 
over the Sabbath that the chief might Lotu, as 



VIWA. 



221 



he said we might never meet again. Of course 
we were very glad to stay. 

"May 1. I spent the day principally in read- 
ing Reed's 'Advancement,' which I found to 
be very profitable. The views there expressed 
with regard to the converson of the world are, I 
think, very just in general, and the spirit 
breathed through the whole work is excellent. 
One opinion was new to me, and appeared at 
first sight to be very satisfactory ; but I should 
like to see it more fully explained and tested by 
the word of God. It is, that those among the 
heathen will be saved who would have accepted 
the Gospel had it been proposed to them.* 
These are not the exact words in which the sen- 
timent is expressed, but I think the writer is 
evidently of this opinion. I am persuaded that 
there are great numbers who would embrace 
Christianity if they had it proposed to them in 
a proper way. But who is sufficient thus to pro- 
pose it? How difficult is this which many 
appear to think any one can do ! One view of 
the writer I think very doubtful, and that is, 
that Christianity might be much more effectu- 
ally promoted by mechanics and colonies than 
it has been. One objection against mechanics 

* Dr. Seed's words are : " We cheerfully admit . . . that 
wherever there is such a disposition of mind as would thankfully 
receive the Gospel if it were presented, there is essentially a 
state of salvation."— -P. 236, 



222 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



in my mind is, that a mechanic is naturally 
associated, in the minds of the heathen, with a 
class of men who are the greatest opposers of 
Christianity. If a man has a secular character 
he is ranked with captains of vessels, and mer- 
chants, and a variety of others, whose only object 
in visiting heathen nations is to get what they 
can from them without any regard for the tem- 
poral or spiritual interests of the heathen. I 
believe the less missionaries have to do even 
with the arts of life, the more successful they will 
be in the saving of souls. They might, perhaps, 
be successful in spreading a kind of secular 
Christianity which, however useful, does not 
meet the case. Jesus Christ set his disciples 
apart from secular things, that they might be at 
entire liberty to attend to the spiritual kingdom 
in themselves and others. A man whose busi- 
ness it is to spread righteousness, and peace, and 
joy in the Holy Ghost, needs no other employ- 
ment. This kind of work employs a sedulous 
attention to the promotion and advancement of 
this kingdom in his own soul, without which he 
will not succeed with others ; and his own soul 
will not prosper in this, unless regular and large 
portions of time are devoted to private reading 
of the Scriptures, meditation, and prayer. Those 
who are necessarily engaged in secular affairs 
may prosper in their souls without much time 



VIWA. 



223 



being given to devotional exercises ; but those 
who are set apart for the work of the Lord may 
not waste the time they ought to give to devo- 
tion in any secular employment whatever. It 
is nothing to the purpose to say that such a 
man can maintain the spirit of prayer in the 
midst of business ; he may, but how few do ! 
It is not probable that many will. My conclu- 
sion is. that those whose work it is to spread 
Scriptural Christianity, should be as free from 
secular affairs as possible. I wish we could be 
much more free than we are, even in Fiji." 

It would be very unjust to Mr. Hunt to argue 
from the sentiments here recorded, that he 
thought lightly of the good which a missionary 
might do to an uncultured people, in the way ot 
leading them up to the benefits of what is 
understood by civilization. Before being sent 
to Fiji, he himself looked forward with delight 
to the advantage which his agricultural knowl- 
edge would enable him to confer on the Kaffirs, 
among whom he expected to be sent ; and he 
rejoiced as much as any in the better style of 
houses among the Fijians, and other improve- 
ments in temporal affairs, which they received 
through the missionaries, and through Mr. 
Hunt himself no less than any. He dreaded, 
however, and with good reason, the reversing 
of the true order, and the attempt to make 



224 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

civilization prepare the way for the Gospel, in- 
stead of regarding temporal good as consequent 
upon spiritual blessing. His faith in the Gospel 
as " the power of God unto salvation to every 
one that believeth," was so simple, so like that 
of St. Paul, that he was very jealous of anything 
which seemed to question the efficacy of the 
mere preaching of the Gospel. He accepted 
Paul's word as to the relative claims of man's 
wisdom and " the foolishness of God." 

Moreover, Mr. Hunt had sympathy with the 
apostolic judgment respecting the unfitness of a 
minister of the word being encumbered with the 
ministry of secularities. Recognizing the plain 
principle that success in a spiritual work called 
for spiritual fitness, and having gained such an 
jntimate knowledge of his own heart, he feared 
anything that tended to come between him and 
the source whence he derived all the elements 
of the only power he cared to possess ; wherefore 
it was that he would fain have taken the same 
ground as the twelve who said, in declining to 
act as purveyors and commissaries, " But we 
will give ourselves continually to prayer, and 
to the ministry of the word." To resume the 
Journal : 

" I may make another observation on the book 
which has led to these remarks, which is, that I 
feel sorry that the author has not the Wesleyan 



VIWA. 



225 



and Scripture view of entire sanctification, which 
I think would give a definiteness to the state of 
religion, which he desires so much to see prevail 
among the Churches of our beloved country. In 
reading his work one cannot avoid thinking of 
such men as Fletcher, Bramwell, Smith, and 
many others, who are made by entire sanctifica- 
tion just what he describes the Churches should 
be. I do not believe any of these would have 
been what they were unless they had embraced 
with all their hearts this doctrine and experi- 
enced this blessed grace. I have found this de- 
fect in many works on practical Christianity, 
whose authors see exactly what Christianity 
should be, but do not tell us how to attain it. 
They have not clear views on this part of the 
subject. Mr. Wesley's sermons on the Repent- 
ance of Believers, on the Way to the Kingdom, 
and on Christian Perfection, should always be 
read with such works. 

" 2d. Sunday morning. At daylight we had 
a prayer-meeting. The chief with eight or nine 
others attended, for the purpose of praying the 
first time to the true God. Praise God ! May 
he be kept faithful, and be a Christian indeed ! 
Many of the chiefs have mixed motives in re- 
nouncing heathenism, but we rejoice when they 
are brought in any way under the sound of the 
Gospel. 6 The entrance of his word giveth light,' 



226 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



but it seldom enters the minds of heathens till 
they renounce the false gods. Their salvation 
seems suspended on this condition, to which they 
have power given them to attend even while 
they are heathen. After they have complied 
with this condition, the difference in many 
cases is very great. They are now benefited by 
the means. They were in a salvable state before ; 
but they are now in the way of salvation. 

" We had a good day. I endeavored to show 
them the claims of the God of love on them, 
arising principally out of the fact that he has 
given his Son for them. This is truly an 
infant Church, but God is able to make them 
stand. 

3d. We left our friends at Nairara this 
morning, and set out for our next port. We 
called at* two heathen towns on our w r ay and 
preached the Gospel, persuading the people to 
renounce their false gods. All said it would be 
well to do so; but they are waiting one for 
another to take the lead, and all waiting for a 
termination of war before they can find time to 
attend to religion. The Fijians have evidence 
enough before them that nothing but Christian- 
ity can terminate their wars ; still they are dis- 
posed to try what they can do by fighting, 
though every war necessarily lays the foundation 
for a new one. The only way to have peace 



VIWA. 



227 



upon earth is for each contending party to bring 
their weapons of war, and lay them at the feet 
of Jesus, and bury all their animosities in the 
grave of abandoned heathenism. The people of 
Fiji have an evidence of what Christianity will 
do for warriors in its influence at Viwa. The 
Viwa people were almost always fighting. In 
passing through this part of Fiji, you are con- 
tinually pointed to the scenes of their past con- 
tests. Here you see an island that was emptied 
by them, there a town that was entirely destroy- 
ed by their treachery or power, at another place 
the miserable remnant of a once populous town 
(I mean populous for Fiji) are allowing their 
beards to grow until they can be revenged on 
the Viwa people for the destruction of their 
town and the murder of their friends. Now the 
Yiwa people are endeavoring to spread the Gos- 
pel of peace where they once carried the horrors 
of war. Five of them are now employed as 
regular catechists, others are local preachers, or 
undergoing the necessary training for these im- 
portant stations in the Church. These are evi- 
dences of Christianity found on the spot, and 
are more convincing to the natives than trans- 
lations of Home, Watson, or Paley would be 
could they be procured. 

" We reached Nanganga before night, so that 

I had time to preach in the open air to a some- 

15 



228 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



what attentive congregation. Our teacher here 
is a good man ; but the old chief wishes to have 
a Tongan. The poor old man knows but little 
of Christianity, and does next to nothing for its 
advancement among his people. It is the day 
of small things here. 

" ith. We set out for Mba, which we reach- 
ed late at night, the wind having been light all 
day. It is between forty and fifty miles from 
Nanganga, and one hundred and twenty from 
Viwa. It was dark before we entered the river, 
which looked very dismal on account of the 
dark thick mangroves which grow on its sides. 
We reached the town in safety, and were wel- 
comed by the chief, who has renounced heathen- 
ism. After taking refreshment we had some 
conversation and prayer and retired to rest. 
Perhaps a missionary owes it to the grace of 
God that he is without fear under such circum-' 
stances, as he certainly does to his providence 
that he is quite safe. The Mba people have the 
worst character of any people in Fiji for canni- 
balism. It is said that they have a temple built, 
but wait till they are able to murder some white 
man before it is consecrated, in consequence of 
a Mba chief having been wantonly shot some 
years ago by an American captain. Whether 
the report is true or not I cannot say. I have 
been in their power twice, but have had no rea- 



VI W A. 



229 



son to suspect them of any bad intentions toward 
me. 

" 5th. We held a service in the house of the 
chief, when his household, consisting of eleven 
persons, embraced Christianity. A number of 
the heathen were present and listened attent- 
ively while I endeavored to impress on them 
the nature and claims of Christianity. 

" We met with a number of Nandronga men 
here to whom I preached the Gospel, and they 
appeared somewhat interested, but refused to 
embrace the truth at once. They urged the old 
reason warmly, that they must first kill, and of 
course eat their enemies, and then become Chris- 
tians. The other two chiefs of Mba rave the 
same reason. Yet Providence appears to be 
teaching them that they cannot put an end to 
war by fighting. O that they would love 
and embrace the religion of the Prince of 
peace ! 

" 6th. The rain fell almost all night and there 
was no prospect of sailing this morning. I 
therefore determined to make use of the time in 
the best way I could. I went to the large bure, 
(temple,) and found full employment all the 
forenoon in preaching to a number of natives in 
the bure, and in writing my journal. The 
weather is clearing off a little, but there is not 
much prospect of a fine afternoon. Two em- 



230 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



braced Christianity this morning. Praise God ! 
I trust the good work will spread. 

" The houses here are built on quite a differ- 
ent plan to any I have seen in the Wind- 
ward Islands. Many of them, especially the 
bures, appear quite round outside, and taper 
toward the top in a conical form, so that when 
finished they look like round haystacks. The 
inside looks well, as the rafters are close to- 
gether ; and instead of using reeds they make a 
kind of net-work of bamboos, which has a nice 
appearance, is very substantial, and prevents the 
earth of the grass [with which the roofs are cov- 
ered] from dropping through, The houses are 
very durable, and as warm as ovens. 

" We had another service to-night, after 
which we counted our number, and found that 
twenty-three had embraced the truth. We 
spent the evening in teaching them the vakatusa 
(Confession,) etc. Though their language is 
very different, yet they understand a great deal 
of what is said to them in the Mbau dialect. 

"7th. We set out early this morning for 
Rakiraki. The wind was fair for a considerable 
distance and then became light, as well as much 
less favorable. We therefore called at Vatea, 
where we found a number of Rakiraki people 
fishing, to whom we preached the Gospel, but 
they were not willing to attend. As night came 



VIWA. 



231 



on we thought we should have the wind from 
the land, and determined to sail all night. Ac- 
cordingly we set off about sunset, and had as 
comfortable a night as we could expect. We 
were aground several times. Once our mast, 
sail and all, fell overboard, and we narrowly 
escaped harm. We were, however, mercifully 
preserved, and found ourselves not far from our 
port at daylight. We had not much sleep, of 
course, but we managed to keep up a fire; and 
had plenty of yams to keep out the cold. 

" 8th. We reached Thokova, and found the 
old chief as usual, so large that he can scarcely 
stir, and yei: begging for health. I asked him 
what he called health if he did not enjoy it 
already. But he keeps to his point, "Me*u hula 
— Let pie live which would be very w T ell if 
he included anything besides the body, but 
beyond this he does not appear to have any 
conception. His brother, who is also a professor 
of Christianity, is much of the same mind. The 
people appear willing to become Christians, 
but I verily believe that the two chiefs who pro- 
fess Christianity prevent them. This place re- 
minds me very much of Somosomo. It is very 
similar; indeed, it is the Somosomo of this 
circuit. 

"9th. We held three services to-day. Our 
old chief had made a kind of promise that his 



232 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



household should Lotu to-day ; but when it 
came to the point he told a falsehood and got 
off. As I had but few hearers I preached in 
the afternoon principally to the teachers, from 
the Parable of the Sower. The following is an 
outline : 

"I. The sower. II. The seed. III. The 

VARIOUS KINDS OF GROUND INTO WHICH THE 
SEED FALLS. 

"I. The sower has three things to do: 1. To 
select the proper seed to be sown ; which re- 
quires wisdom. 2. To sow the seed; which re- 
quires diligence and labor. Sowing is hard 
work. 3. To see that it is properly covered 
with earth, protected, weeded, etc. ; which re- 
quires much care — that is, prayer, pastoral over- 
sight, and discipline. 

"II. The seed. This must be, 1. The word 
of God ; Scripture properly read or quoted. 
2. The genuine meaning of that word. 3. Any 
other sentiments which correspond to the truth 
of the Bible, though not expressed in the words 
of Scripture, or any part of its direct exposition. 

"III. The ground. Here are, 1. The way- 
side hearer — the hardened, careless sinner. 
2. The stony-ground hearer, who believes with- 
out much evidence, and abandons the truth 
without much reason. 3. The hearer who is 
tormented by the cares, and deceived by the 



VIWA. 



233 



riches of the world. 4. The good hearer, who 
believes, considers, and practices what he hears. 
. " 10th. We determined to start for the Large 
Land, (Vanua Levu.) The prospect was not 
very favorable, as the wind was strong. But 
our crew were in high spirits, and made excel- 
lent preparations for a stormy passage by reef- 
ing the sail after the Tonga fashion. This we 
found to answer well, and we reached Mbua in 
safety before night. We found our friends in 
health and alive to God, for -which we praised 
the Lord and took courage. What a contrast 
between visiting such a place as this and the 
one we have just left ! 

" 11th. This morning I waited on Tui Mbua, 
(the chief,) and promised to have the house for 
the missionary built on his side of the river if 
lie would engage to become a Christian. He 
subsequently refused to comply, by wishing the 
house to be built at Tiliva, which pleased the 
people very much. They commenced opera- 
tions at once, and soon had things in a forward 
state. We had an interesting service in the 
evening. 

" 12th. The house proceeded rapidly to-day. 
About noon I received a note from David 
Whippy, (an American,) stating that he was 
very ill, and wished I would go and see him as 
soon as possible, as it might probably be the 



234 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



means of saving his life. I held a service in 
the evening, and administered the Sacrament of 
the Lord's Supper, intending to sail for ISTdama 
in the morning. The improvement made by 
this people during the past year is very pleasing. 
But there is much yet to be done. They have 
built a nice chapel. 

" 13th. We set sail for Ndama. I held two 
services in the new chapel, which exceeds that 
at Mbua. It is by very far the best building 
in the place, which is all w r e can expect. The 
work has prospered much here during the year. 

"14dh. We proceeded to Solevu. I found 
David very ill, but a little improved. It is 
^another loud call to the white men here. 

" 15th. I preached this morning in native, 
baptized several persons, and preached after- 
ward in English. Here too we opened a new 
chapel, which far exceeds any building in the 
place, and which the white men have paid for 
by subscription. It was built by the ITandi 
people. 

"16th. I attended to the sick, and held a 
conversation with the Solevu people respecting 
a piece of ground on which to build a mission- 
house. I obtained the land, but they wished 
the Christians of Nandi to build the house. I 
determined, therefore, to go to Nandi in the 
morning. 



VIWA. 



235 



" 17th. We reached Nandi early. The people 
were delighted with the prospect of having a 
missionary. 

" 18£A. I spent the day in a variety of ways. 
At night I married several couples, preached, 
and afterward had a consultation with the teach- 
ers on several points of importance. The last 
day or two I have been reading Cecil. ]STo book 
affects me so much." 

After exactly a month's absence Mr. Hunt 
returned safely to Viwa. The great work now 
was the printing of the New Testament, which 
went on prosperously, and before August an 
edition of one thousand copies of the Fijian Tes- 
tament was worked off, besides a very large 
number of the Gospel according to Saint Mat- 
thew and the Acts of the Apostles. When Mr. 
Lawry attended the district meeting in Septem- 
ber, well bound Testaments were presented to 
the meeting, and all rejoiced together in the ac- 
complishment of so great an enterprise. In 
speaking of this visit and meeting Mr. Lawry 
says : " In this mission everything takes from 
the chairman, not a somber hue, but a tinge of 
evergreen, a glow of life ; and giant strides are 
being made in every part of the Fijian work." 

In the same month Mr. Hunt's family was 
enlarged by the birth of another daughter, which 



236 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

was named after the little one who had died, 
and thus the parents' great new gain was made 
a memorial of their past loss. 

During the district meeting Mr. Hunt was 
urged by his brethren to undertake the transla- 
tion of the Old Testament. He consented, but 
without that hearty cheerfulness with which he 
had entered up>on and finished his late work. It 
was not that he regarded an accomplished task 
as a good excuse for future idleness. He knew 
of no goal while he had strength left to run. 
But this new undertaking was entered upon as 
a bare duty, as though he was conscious that he 
should never live to finish it. His Master had 
appointed this work to others, and for them was 
reserved the peculiar grace which would give it 
a zest. For a faithful soul has as keen a relish 
in doing its own duty as a healthy body has in 
taking food. And if alongside this truth — as, 
indeed, every truth — the devil shapes a corre- 
sponding lie, it is a very sorry trap, into which 
no man would step with his eyes open. But 
that is just it. Let a man's own inclination 
blindfold his judgment, and it really does not 
need much art to snare him. Now this good 
man, John Hunt, was a hard subject to blind- 
fold, and, like John Wesley, saw a devilish craft 
in the theory that a man was never to do any- 
thing but what he felt free to, that is, what he 



VIWA. 



237 



liked. So he took up the task at once ; and 
whatever misgivings he had, there were none 
about the way of God's appointed service being 
the way of God's given grace. Thus he says in 
a letter : " It is a great work, but God can give 
me strength if it please him that I should do it; 
and if it be not pleasing to him I do not wish 
to do it." 

Soon after the district meeting in the begin- 
ning of November, Mr. Hunt accompanied the 
general superintendent, Mr. Lawry, in the 
"Wesley," to establish two new stations on the 
large island of Vanua Levu, Mbua and Nancli. 
Verani, the converted chief, sailed with them as 
pilot, and they were escorted by a large double 
canoe commanded by the Yiwa king, Namosi- 
malua. 

The second Sunday of the cruise, while the 
" Wesley " was anchored off Mbua, is thus de- 
scribed by Mr. Lawry : " In the morning I 
preached on, 'If any man be in Christ Jesus he 
is a new creature.' During the reading of the 
Scriptures and the Litany, as well as through the 
entire service, a blessed unction rested upon us 
all. We had two native services ; and in the 
evening Mr. Hunt preached a thoroughly Wes- 
leyan sermon, on 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy 
God with all thy heart,' etc. He poured forth 
thought upon thought so just, so weighty, so 



238 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

original, so luminous, that I sat upon the quarter- 
deck looking at this wonderful man with amaze- 
ment and admiration. There was an energy and 
a simplicity about his appeals all but over- 
whelming. The scene was altogether lovely : 
the setting sun, the cloud-capped mountains, the 
placid ocean, the listening crew and native 
teachers, and* the intelligent, zealous preacher, 
from whom were coming forth c rivers of living 
water,' united in giving effect to the occasion, 
and made me willing to ride upon the mountain 
wave, and feel at home upon the sea. This was 
none other than the house of God ! this was the 
gate of heaven !" 

Mr. La wry concludes his journal of this visit 
thus : 

" Yiwa, December 6. We weighed anchor 
this morning for New Zealand, after taking a 
most affectionate leave of the excellent mission 
families at Viwa. They are accomplishing a 
noble work in Fiji, and a great door and effec- 
tual is open to them. Mr. Hunt is an extra- 
ordinary man both in body and mind; and all 
his fine powers are devoted to Christ and his 
Fijian infant Churches, for the conversion of 
these energetic people. By his brethren he is 
very greatly beloved, and they in turn are 
much and deservedly beloved by their chair- 
man." 



VIWA. 



239 



The following letter, written to his revered 
and beloved tutor, Dr. Hannah, shows well the 
nature of Mr. Hunt's employment about this 
time, and the state of feeling in which he pur- 
sued it. 

u Viwa, Fiji Islaitoa, December 1, 1847. 

" My very dear Friend, — Your very excel- 
lent and affecting letter, received per 'John 
Wesley,' was most thankfully welcomed by my- 
self and Mrs. Hunt. We value our friends at 
home more than they can well conceive, and 
more than they would be willing to credit, if we 
were able to tell them. I am sure, my dear sir, 
you will believe me when I say, none are more 
valued than yourself. I should be ashamed of 
my heart if it did not beat with affection of the 
purest and most ardent character to one to 
whom I am under many obligations. I am 
aware .you may say you only did your duty. 
That may be; but I see more and more that 
those who do their duty deserve our best thanks 
and our warmest gratitude, though before the 
Great Master they must ever consider themselves 
unprofitable servants. 

"I must now begin to give you some account 
of our affairs here. There are so many things 
that I wish to mention that I don't know where 
to begin. Perhaps I had better commence with 
what has engaged most of my attention during 



240 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

the past year, namely, the translation and print- 
ing of the entire New Testament in the language 
of Fiji. 

" We have felt our need for some time of an 
idiomatical version of the Scriptures of the New 
Testament. Some portions had been translated 
by our predecessors ; but these, as might be ex- 
pected, were very incorrect, and far from being 
fully intelligible to the natives, in consequence 
of their being so much in the English idiom. 
It is easy to learn the words of a language, and 
not very difficult to put them into a sentence ; 
but there is much difficulty connected with ex- 
pressing an idea exactly in the way in which a 
native w r ould express it if he had the idea in his 
own mind. This is what has been attempted in 
this translation, and the brethren in the district say 
that the difficult task has been performed much 
to their satisfaction. Some approve of the version 
even to admiration. To God be all the praise ! 

" I have now commenced reading for the Old 
Testament, the brethren having decided that I 
shall try to translate the whole, and brother 
Lyth is to examine. I do not approve of the 
plan myself ; but as it was the only one on which 
the brethren could be unanimous I submit to it, 
and, by the help of God, shall proceed with the 
work as quickly as possible. Five years is the 
time I have thought of if I have health, and no 



VIWA. 



241 



more hinderances than I have had in the New 
Testament. Pray for me, my dear sir, that I 
may have wisdom, and patience, and grace to 
render into correct and idiomatic Fijian the holy 
book of God. I cannot enter into any explana- 
tion of my plans in the course of a letter. How 
glad should I be if I had the privilege of an 
hour's converse with you about once a week to 
ask advice, to propound difficulties, etc.! But 
I must not anxiously wish for impossible things. 

"My leading principle in translating is to 
give what I fully believe to be the mind of the 
Spirit. So far I wish to be servilely literal. 
The next thing is to give the sense under the 
same aspect as it is presented by the sacred 
writers, following as far as possible their mode 
of expression in words, figures, and everything 
that constitutes style and manner, yet not so as 
to injure the sense by adopting foreign idioms. 
In a word, what Hooker speaks of as being^ery 
desirable, but not much to be expected, we are 
endeavoring to accomplish, namely, a version 
which shall be neither a mere verbal rendering 
of the words of Scripture on the one hand, nor 
a paraphrase on the other. These are not his 
words, as you know ; but I think it is the sense 
of what he says.* It is easy to give a mere 

* Mr. Hunt refers to the following passage : " Touching trans- 
lations of Holy Scripture, albeit we may not disallow of their 



242 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

verbal rendering, and equally easy to make a 
paraphrase ; but that which shall be as faithful 
as a verbal rendering and as easy to be under- 
stood as a paraphrase, without being one or the 
other, is not easy. 

" I must not enlarge, but now say a word or 
two about our institution. We have not yet 
formed a regular establishment for the instruc- 
tion of native teachers. The reason is, our per- 
suasion that we can accomplish the object much 
better on our present plan. That plan is to have 
an institution in each circuit under the care of 
the superintendent. As we have a printed 
course, all is easy. Viwa is considered as head- 
quarters, and the plan we pursue here is a model 
for the rest, so far as it will apply. I have pre- 
pared an abstract of the short sermons referred 
to in my last, especially of those on the Doctrines 
anc(gpPuties ; and these, with the rules of the 
society, constitute a book of twelve closely 
printed pages 24mo., which has become a great 

painful travels herein who strictly have tied themselves to the very 
original letter; yet the judgment of the Church, as we see "by the 
practice of all nations, Greeks, Latins, Persians, Syrians, Ethio- 
pians, Arabians, hath been ever, that the fittest for public audi- 
ence are such as follow a middle course between the rigor of lit- 
eral translators and the liberty of paraphrasts, do with greatest 
shortness and plainness deliver the meaning of the Holy Ghost. 
Which, being a labor of so great difficulty, the exact performance 
thereof we may rather wish than look for."-- Ecclesiastical Polity, 
book v, chap. xix. 



VIWA. 



243 



favorite both among the missionaries and 
natives. Its only excellence is its adaptation to 
our people. The plan on which it is prepared 
is very simple. The question refers to some 
great theological truth, and the answer is given, 
if possible, in the words of Scripture. The first 
question is, c How was man when God made 
him V Answer : 6 Moses has reported that 
" God made man in his own image." 5 The 
sixth question is, 'Are we near falling into hell 
on account of our sins V Answer : 6 Yes. 
David reports, " The wicked shall be turned 
into hell, and all the nations that forget God." ' 
Giving the name of the sacred writer makes the 
passage more interesting to them, as they like 
much to be acquainted with such things. This 
catechism was prepared for the native teachers ; 
but most of our people have committed the 
whole to memory, and can repeat it, questions 
and answers, from beginning to end, without 
making three mistakes. No one among us 
could stand a theological examination better 
than some of the women of Yiwa if they w T ere 
allowed to keep to the Catechism. Would that 
they experienced the truth thus stored in their 
memories ! This is the case with some ; but 
not by any means with the majority who pro- 
fess Christianity in Fiji. We have about forty 

persons under theological training in the Group, 

16 



244 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

many of whom we hope will be useful to their 
countrymen. 

"The whole subject of education is now 
engaging much of our attention. We must now 
become schoolmasters. We have the New Tes- 
tament printed, and if all be well shall soon 
have it in the hands of our dear people. But 
this will not do. They must have it in their 
minds and hearts, and transcribe its living truths 
into their lives. Our whole attention in the 
pulpit and out of it must be directed to the ac- 
complishment of this end. What a blessed end ! 
We can only be instruments ; but this we may, 
nay, must be. 

" We can now report upward of three thou- 
sand who attend our ministry and that of our 
teachers every Lord's day. One pleasing cir- 
cumstance connected with these is, that they 
are located in various parts of the Group, em- 
bracing many distinct political states. Seven of 
these are included in this circuit, (Viwa.) This 
is an important fact. We have not the first 
chiefs in each of these places, but we have chiefs 
of much influence in each of them, so that this 
circuit, according to Fijian ideas, is very respect- 
able. We are now dividing it into three, so that 
my work in one direction will be much more 
circumscribed ; but, thank God ! it will not in 
another. There are one hundred thousand peo- 



VIWA. 



245 



pie on the large island just over against us, and 
our circuit includes three important places on 
that island, one about sixty miles from Yiwa, 
another about ninety, and a third one hundred 
and twenty. Another place about a hundred and 
eighty miles from us is now opening. I visited 
it some years ago, and received a message from 
a chief a few days since, stating that if I would 
visit them again he would embrace Christianity. 
I am looking for an opportunity to go. We 
have abundance of work of every kind, much 
more than we have strength, or wisdom, or 
grace to attend to as we ought. TVe desire to 
be found faithful. 

" You will read accounts of the revival with 
which we have been favored. On that, there- 
fore, I need not dwell. I fully believe in the 
great use of revivals in these islands. The 
natives require much divine influence as well as 
much divine truth. 4 Pray for us in this respect, 
even as I know you do. 

" I wrote you last year by Mrs. "Wilson on 
the subject of entire sanctification, and sent you 
an outline of my remarks, which I hope you 
received. I have altered my plan a little, and 
am pleased to find that my altered plan cor- 
responds with the sketch you have kindly given 
in your last almost exactly. I shall inclose a 
very brief outline. The brethren here wish me to 



246 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



publish soon, but I wish to follow what I think 
I remember your recommending : 6 Write after 
you have well thought, not before.' Many 
authors write first and think afterward. 

"I must conclude long before I have done. 
I fear, however, that my engagements will 
not allow me to write another letter this 
time. 

" And now, my very dear friends, accept 
again our many, many thanks for your kind re- 
membrance of us. O, it was kind in dear Mrs. 
Hannah to send little articles of clothing that 
your own dear children had worn, ,and a hand- 
kerchief for me that you yourself had used. I 
show it to my friends here as a precious treasure, 
and they love me more for having so evident a 
place in your affections. Our last little daugh- 
ter is named Hannah, after her mother, grand- 
mother, and yourself. But what am I doing ? 
I am trying to tell you how much we love you, 
and only prove that our love is untellable, if I 
may coin a word. 

About going home again I say nothing. I 
leave that to the great Master, praying, how- 
ever, that if possible I may live and die in 
Fiji, much as I love England. I conclude with 
much love. 

Yours very affectionately, 

"J. Hunt." 



VIWA. 



247 



The following extracts are from a letter writ- 
ten by Mr. Hunt to some of his old Lincolnshire 
friends at about the same date as the last : 

" We sympathize with our dear friends in 
their various trials, and hope and pray that they 
may be sanctified, which is indeed their legiti- 
mate use. We bless God for our trials, which 
have of course been of a kind that you know 
little of. But God knows them, and we know 
that all things, whatever may be their nature, 
work together for good to them that love God. 
There is no doubt that things are made a bless- 
ing to us in proportion as we love God ; so that 
to love God with all our heart, and with all our 
mind, and with all our soul, and w T ith all the 
strength of all, is the way to secure the sanctifica- 
tion of every mercy and every trial. I trust 
you all keep to the simplicity and fullness of the 
Gospel. The preaching of John Smith is still, 
to my mind, the right kind of preaching. I 
never think of him and such men without feel- 
ing ashamed and instructed. I am quite sure 
that nothing but entire holiness will do for us. 
Others, who ipay not have heard of the great 
salvation, or seen its effects on others, may be 
indifferent about it, and be innocent ; but the case 
is different with those who have heard, and 
seen, and felt the blessedness of this glorious 
gift of God. 



248 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



" I must now tell you something of our affairs 
here. In a temporal point of view our circum- 
stances are much improved. We have health, 
and a healthy family ; a good house to dwell in, 
and plenty of all we need for the body, without 
much care.. This is all we desire ; and, thank 
God ! this we have. The good work in which 
we are engaged also continues to prosper. We 
have, of course, some opposition and much 
indifference to contend against; but still we see 
the work of the Lord advance, not stopped by 
the calm or hindered by the storm. God is 
still with us, and makes us a blessing. 

"The work of conversion has been going on 
among our people gradually during the last 
three years. You are aware that here there are 
generally two conversions, one from heathenism 
to Christianity as a system, and a second from 
sin to God. Both these are of the greatest im- 
portance. Without the first there is no hope of 
the second. We seldom witness anything like 
penitence in a heathen. Generally, it , is not 
until they have professed Christianity for some 
time that they sincerely seek the Lord. This, I 
think, is the great difference between the spread 
of Christianity in our day and its spread in the 
days of the apostles. Then heathens were at 
once converted to God. The grossest idolaters 
became at once true spiritual worshipers of 



YIWA. 



249 



Jehovah, and trusted, as humble penitents, in 
his Son Jesus Christ, receiving the Holy Ghost 
to assure them of acceptance, and to renew 
them in righteousness and true holiness. Thus 
saved, they were at once prepared to be useful, 
feeling in themselves the reality and comfort of 
the great truths which constituted the principal 
subjects of the apostles' ministry. In our day 
such conversions are rare, and consequently the 
work among us assumes a different aspect from 
that described in the Acts of the Apostles. Our 
people are like most of our congregations at 
home. A goodly number are truly converted ; 
a further number are desiring salvation: 
others are professing to worship God, but they 
have only the form of godliness ; the power they 
know nothing of. We have upward of three 
thousand professing Christians, and if they were 
like the three thousand saved on the day of 
Pentecost, I have no doubt that Fiji would soon 
be converted to the Saviour. We have now 
one thousand seven hundred and thirty in society, 
and one hundred and fifty-nine on trial. 

" We have been very busy during the past 
year in the New Testament, which is now print- 
ed in the native language. This, as you may sup- 
pose, has cost somebody a good deal of trouble. 
I hope we may have the Old Testament done in 
five or six years hence if our life and health 



250 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

are spared. These things are little thought of 
by our friends at home. They know something 
of that part of our work which consists in visit- 
ing various places, preaching the Gospel, and 
teaching schools ; but they know of little that is 
done in the study ; what hours of anxious thought 
spent in deciding the meaning of words and 
phrases, and how the word of God is to be put 
into the language of the people without altering 
its meaning, or making it difficult for them to 
understand it. A pale face, a feverish state of 
the body, a mind almost distracted, and an 
appetite perhaps unimpaired, indicate that 
something severe has been going on behind the 
scene. Thank God! he affords his aid, and 
then 

4 Labor is rest and pain is sweet.' " 



VIWA. 



251 



CHAPTER XIII. 

VIWA, 1848. 

Extract from Mr. La wry' s Journal — Letter to a Friend — Letter 
to Mr. Calvert — Letter of Advice to Mr. Malvern — Trip in 
the " Calypso " — Sickness — Eelapse — Trouble and Peace — 
Prayer for the Missionary — Belief — Praise — Patient waiting 
— Last Letter — Last Eelapse. 

Mr. Lawry says in his Journal : " How the 
missionaries can study or exercise themselves 
in this oppressive climate is scarcely conceiva- 
ble, yet they do both and complain not ; but 
those who are newly arrived feel greatly dis- 
tressed, until they become seasoned against the 
heat and the musquitos." 

A further quotation from the same interesting 
journal may be fitly given here : " Our mission- 
aries here are hard-working men, and men of all 
work. They rise early and translate the Scrip- 
tures, or prepare other good books ; they teach 
the natives useful arts, and guide them in all 
they do ; one part of the day is devoted to native 
schools, and another to the schooling of their own 
children. They preach the Gospel to all who 
will hear it morning, noon, and night. They 
administer medicine to the sick, and settle dis- 
putes for all parties. They are consulted about 



252 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

everything that is going on. They are lawyers, 
physicians, privy counselors, builders, agricul- 
turists, and frequent travelers on the high seas 
in the frail native canoes. They are men 

c Whose path is on the mountain wave, 
Whose home is on the deep.' 

They study hard that they may give a faithful 
translation of the word of God. Several of them 
daily read Hebrew, Greek, and Latin for this 
end, besides their constant application to the 
perfecting of their knowledge of the native lan- 
guage, in which they preach and converse daily 
with ease and fluency. These things they do in 
the ordinary course of their daily labor as 
pastors of the flock of Christ, besides the over- 
sight they are obliged to take of their own 
domestic affairs, where the busy housewife plies 
her care, and where the tedious natives crowd 
around." 

This description applies exactly to Mr. Hunt, 
as indeed it does to his noble fellow- workers in 
the Fiji Mission. It was not only the arduous 
and manifold activities of his office that slowly, 
yet perceptibly wasted his strength, but that 
work " behind the scene " had already sapped 
his constitution. His headaches became more 
frequent, and though he began the year 1848 
with as much apparent vigor as ever, and as 
much industrious and earnest devotion to his 



YIWA. 



253 



duties, yet every month's toil urged on the hid- 
den under-working of exhaustion which nothing 
could supply. 

Mr. Hunt addressed himself diligently to 
translating, as well as to the revision and en- 
largement of his manual of theology, which con- 
sisted of a series of short sermons. In February 
he wrote in a letter to England : " I am very 
fall of employment from the beginning of the 
year to the close, and have now some years' 
work on hand of the most important kind, in the 
way of translating and composing works on a 
small scale in the native language, while I have 
in addition full work as a pastor, evangelist, etc. 
Mrs. Hunt has plenty on her hands, and - would 
be very glad of mother's help; but we both think 
at her age your advice is best : 4 Get ready for 
heaven and meet them there.' This is the sure 
way of seeing us again. All besides is uncer- 
tain. What is our life ? A vapor, a span, 
nothing, and vanity. 

"My friends in the Lincoln circuit can never 
be thought of by me with ordinary feelings, as 
it is to them, under God, I owe my all. And 
though my all is but little, it is my all. May 
God abundantly prosper them ! 

"This letter is all about little things. Well, 
life is made up of these. Do not forget the great 
things, holiness and usefulness. 



254 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

About two months later he says, in a letter to 
Mr. Calvert : " I am writing an entirely new 
copy of the short sermons, adding several new 
ones, much enlarging the old ones, etc., so that 
it is a task of considerable labor. I find it diffi- 
cult to put Homer in a nutshell. I could easily 
put as much in as the shell would contain, and 
leave the rest out; but I find it requires much 
thought to compress huge volumes in a small 
book so as to get the most important ideas, and 
so to express the whole that a native can under- 
stand it. I must do my best ; but I am more 
and more dissatisfied with everything I do. 

" We are much as usual in our work, etc., and 
I trust in a somewhat prosperous way in our 
souls. Still there is not that overflowing love 
to God, one another, and all men that we had 
last year. I do not know the reason. I state 
the fact, and ask your prayers for us. My own 
soul prospers, thank God ! I have my trials and 
conquests, my joys and sorrows, most of them in 
God." 

In the early part of this year Mr. Hunt wrote 
the following characteristic letter to the Rev. 
John Malvern, who had recently begun his work 
as a missionary at Lakemba. The advice con- 
tained in it was the teaching of his own life as 
well as of his pen. This is true of what he says 
about morning preaching. Many a time had he 



VIWA. 



255 



preached at home with no listener but Mrs. 
Hunt, yet every part of the usual service was 
gone through with as much solemnity and order 
as if he had been ministering before a crowd, 
He spoke what he had proved when he said, 
"You will never want a sermon." His own 
preaching resources seemed unlimited ; and his 
early and long-continued habit of making some 
passage of Scripture the main subject of daily 
meditation, kept up an unfailing supply of well- 
considered texts. 

" My dear Brother, — I am obliged for your 
short note, and should be glad, according to your 
request, to write you a long letter of advice, etc., 
if I knew what kind of advice you wanted. 
Ask me as many questions as you please and I 
will answer them if I can ; or suggest the sub- 
jects on which you wish to have my poor 
opinion. 

" You are just beginning your work, and 
therefore need much prayer and consideration 
in order that you may get into the right track 
at first. Many have suffered much for want of 
this. I advise you to read and be guided by the 
rules laid down in the 'Large Minutes,' the rules 
of the bands, etc., contained in volume viii of 
Mr. Wesley's Works. Let your observance of 
these rules extend to what is said about needless 



256 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

self-indulgence, speaking evil of the absent, and 
all things, and I am sure you will be a happy 
and successful missionary. I regret exceedingly 
my violation of some of these rules, and am. 
fully persuaded that every one of them must be 
fully attended to by all who would be wholly 
the Lord's. The 4 Twelve Rules of a Helper,' 
and all that follows, will claim your particular 
attention. Morning preaching has been long 
given up among us ; but I think it would do us 
much good to preach a sermon to ourselves 
every morning from five to six o'clock, or if 
that be too early, from six to seven. Go through 
the service. Sing or read a hymn suitable to 
the subject of your meditation, and engage in 
prayer. Then explain a portion of Scripture, 
and apply it to your own heart and circumstan- 
ces, and close with another hymn and prayer. 
You will find this an excellent means of improv- 
ing your mind, and heart too. During the day 
you can be thinking of a passage for the next 
morning, and making any inquiries about it that 
may be necessary. You will never want a 
sermon if you follow this plan, and your heart 
will be kept in tune for preaching, which is a 
very important and difficult thing in Fiji. Try 
the plan, and tell me in your next how it suc- 
ceeds. In the evening you should spend an 
hour in preparing a native sermon, and in 



VIWA. 



257 



praying over it and for the prosperity of the 
work. 

" Don't let little things take you from your 
work. Avoid chit-chat. Talk about something 
when you talk. 

" One part of our duty is to take care of the 
body. Temperance and exercise are both essen- 
tial. Our food here is coarse, and unless we take 
at least two hours' exercise in the open air every 
day we shall none of us have health, in my 
opinion. ' O, but I have no time !' You must 
make it. You can walk and pray, or read any- 
thing interesting and instructive, or converse. 
And I assure you that by regularity in exercise, 
food, sleep, etc., you will improve your mind as 
much as your health. A well-educated mind is 
one which is under our entire control. This is 
obtained by discipline, and regular habits great- 
ly assist in disciplining the mind as well as the 
heart, and are essential to the health of the 
body." 

It seems that with regard to the last particu- 
lar Mr. Hunt was scarcely as wise as he was 
strict in following his own counsel. He 
frequently worked in the garden for the sake 
of exercise at midday, when the fierce heat 
rendered comparative rest necessary, and when 
out-door labor served merely to produce ex- 



258 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

haustion. He afterward acknowledged that this 
was wrong, yet he thought it best at the time. 
Then, if any one wanted his help he seemed 
unable to refuse it, though his work, already too 
great for him, was increased thereby. 

Thus passed the first few months of 1848. In 
June, H. M. S. " Calypso," commanded by Cap- 
tain Worth, visited Fiji. Mr. Hunt accompa- 
nied the captain to several places, cheerfully 
rendering all the aid he could^ although at the 
cost of great toil and injurious exposure. On 
one occasion, after becoming much heated by 
walking, he remained for some time in the chill, 
damp night air. The cold struck him where 
white residents in Fiji have most to dread dis- 
ease, and symptoms of approaching inflamma- 
tion of the bowels showed themselves. Now, as 
in all times of sickness, it was a great comfort to 
have for a colleague Mr. Lyth, whose medical 
training had already enabled him to contribute 
largely to the well-being of the mission families. 
Mr. Lyth was uneasy at finding that, with in- 
tervals of relief, the attacks returned again and 
again without yielding to the usual remedies. 
Each attack weakened the strong, active man ; 
but in July he became very much better, and, 
impatient to be at his loved work again, went 
for several successive days to the infant school. 
Another and worse relapse followed, and 



VIWA. 



259 



thenceforth the missionary's work was done. 
His last sermon was preached in July, at 
the wooden mission-house, from "Praying in 
the Holy Ghost." 

His tender and faithful attendant says: "'It 
now became evident that there must be some 
latent cause existing, or some serious mischief 
going on in the system, to occasion these re- 
newed attacks ; for, notwithstanding the means 
used, the symptoms became worse, proceeding 
from spasm and irritation, till at length decided 
inflammation of the mucous membrane super- 
vened. Another feature of this complaint was, 
that the symptoms were generally aggravated 
about the day of his accustomed headache, 
(which now entirely left him,) and continued so 
for some days, followed by a remission of short- 
er or longer continuance." 

In the beginning of August Mr. Hunt was 
quite prostrated by another and more severe 
attack, during which he suffered acute and long- 
continued pain. The question of his removal to 
one of the colonies had been fully discussed, but 
he feared lest the voyage should be too much 
for him. And the missionary's heart clung to 
Fiji, and he had reckoned upon dying in the 
scene of his life's work; so he quietly resolved 
to stay where God had led him, and to leave the 
issue w T ith him, in whose providence he had 

17 



260 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



from youth up placed such unquestioning trust. 
The possibility of removal was now taken away, 
and the sick man's agony and exhaustion told 
of approaching death. Then there came a great 
darkness upon the missionaries, their wives, and 
their little ones, for they dreaded to lose him 
to whom they had learned to look with admiring 
reverence and fond affection so long. And with 
the bad news the darkness spread into many a 
Viwan home, and hearts which had received 
their all of good from the hand of the dying 
man mourned bitterly as for a father. In his 
sharpest agony the sufferer's heart had rest. 
He said : " I feel the same uniform peace of 
mind ; however my pain ps, there is no change 
in that respect; but" — referring to his pain — 
" I feel my troubles" Again he said: "I 
want a clearer manifestation of the love of God, 
to enable me to rejoice in my sufferings. I 
have peace. Pray for me!" 

Prayer was made without ceasing of the 
Church unto God for him. Some whom he 
had been the first to lead to the mercy-seat now 
prayed mightily that he might be spared. The 
people, with sad faces, flocked on the Saturday 
evening to the chapel, and bowed themselves 
before God. Out of the midst of that prostrate 
company who wept in their common trouble, 
the voice of one after another was uplifted on 



VIWA. 



261 



behalf of their missionary. Elijah Verani cried 
aloud : " O Lord ! we know we are very bad, 
but spare thy servant. If one must die take 
me! Take ten of its ! But spare thy servant to 
preach Christ to the people !" 

Once more the disease abated. In a few days 
Mr. Hunt could sit up again, and walk about the 
room with a stick, and soon after go out into the 
verandah. He looked out on the familiar scenes 
with a new feeling, not weakening but accom- 
panying the old. His heart yearned as strongly 
as ever for the success of the work committed to 
him; but he had just trodden the dim path 
which lies along the mysterious confines of the 
two worlds. The light of the eternal and un- 
changeable had broken up the shadows of that 
borderland of darkness and storm, causing him 
to see things as he never had before ; and a still 
small voice, which the stooping ear of loving 
watchers could not catch, had told him that he 
must die. " I know not how it is," he said ; 
" but something within me tells me that my 
work is done." 

It was but a little bend in the same path that 
brought him back into life again. But there 
was something solemn, and almost a mystery of 
heavenliness, about the tall, thin, stooping fig- 
ure, and pale face, and earnest eyes of the sick 
man, as he paced to and fro with slow and feeble 



262 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



steps. When he spoke of himself, his wife and 
friends listened with a kind of awe. 

" I thought once," said he, " that I was very 
near the port ; you cannot imagine how easy 
it was for me to go. I felt that I had no tie to 
earth, not even my wife and children. I felt an 
entire deadness to the w^orld." 

Again he said : "I have settled the matter. I 
have thought that my case might soon turn either 
w r ay, so I have solemnly given my body and 
soul to God, through Jesus Christ, and I feel that 
he accepts me. I am perfectly resigned to his 
will." 

When Mr. Hunt said he was perfectly resign- 
ed to the will of God, he did not mean as some 
do, that he crouched in forced silence beneath 
a heavy yoke. He rejoiced, he exulted in his 
trust, and desired his brethren to tell the people 
at the prayer-meeting how his heart overflowed 
with love, and* to offer his public acknowledg- 
ment of God's mercy in so far relieving his pain. 
The native Christians hoped that their loved 
pastor was to be restored to them now in an- 
swer to prayer, and were very glad before the 
Lord. Ratu David, a Christian chief of Mbau, 
said in his prayer very fervently : 

"We were in trouble; we feared that Thou 
wert about to take away the light, and leave us 
in darkness on account of our sins ; that thou 



VIWA. 



263 



were about to quench the light, and remove 
from us him who had taught us the word of life ; 
but we stayed thy hands; we refused to let him 
go, and for Christ's sake, thou didst hear the 
prayers of sinners." 

For several weeks, during which Mr. Hunt, 
though very feeble, was comparatively free from 
pain, he was kept in quiet retirement, and strict- 
ly forbidden to engage in any part of his work. 
In this long pause he looked back carefully 
over the past, and while every remembrance of 
evil smote his heart with keen reproach, every 
stroke brought him once again to his Saviour, 
to whom he thus clung closer and closer. He 
was able now to consider the past itself. As far 
as this life was concerned, no wishes, or cares, or 
plans for the future withdrew his attention or 
warped his judgment. All earth's future for 
him was narrowed, to the shutting out of every 
uncertainty. His soul looked forth from the 
cross by which he held beyond this world ; and 
between him and the crown laid up for him he 
saw but one sure event, the fight that was to end 
his life's conflict. Neither did he doubt the 
issue. Already to faith the victory was gained ; 
and the man of God, girt with the power of God, 
awaited the struggle in perfect calm. 

In these hushed and solemn days of waiting, 
Mr. Hunt showed the liveliest interest in the 



264 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

mission to which his best years had been given, 
and would have taken some part of its activity, 
by writing or consultation, had he not been 
strictly forbidden, or, as he said in Fijian style, 
" placed under tambu" by his doctor. In thus 
taking up, to an extent, his old duties, the old 
feeling of working-joy quickened again; and 
under the influence of it he could almost per- 
suade himself that his course was not yet finish- 
ed, and that he should once more be spared to 
preach Jesus. When in the sweet lull which 
followed his pain, a fuller gift of God's love 
stirred his happy spirit into ecstasy, he found it 
easy to interpret this exulting vigor of soul as 
an earnest that, after all, his bodily strength 
should be renewed. Under such feelings h6 
wrote his last letter about August 29th. It was 
to Mr. Williams, at Mbua. 

" My dear Brother,— I am going to attempt 
to write to you a line or two, but know not how 
I shall succeed, as I am far from being fit for 
work. You will be thankful to know that I am 
able to make the attempt, as I trust I truly am. 

" I thank you and Sister Williams exceeding- 
ly for your kind sympathy. Indeed, I seldom 
think of it without tears. It is one of my great- 
est comforts to see so much kind feeling mani- 
fested toward one so Very unworthy of it, both 



VIWA. 



265 



by my brethren and sisters and the. natives 
When Solomon [a beloved Yiwan native teach- 
er, stationed at Mbua] arrived, the worst was 
over, and I had got a decided turn toward 
health. I have been making slow progress in 
the same direction since then, and hope in a 
month or two I may be fit for service if it so 
please God. 

" My gracious Lord has indeed been kind to 
me in my affliction. I have seen more of his 
goodness than ever, and want a thousand 
tongues to praise him with. I feel he has 
greatly blessed me. O help me to praise his 
goodness ! 

" I had peace during the early part of my af- 
fliction, but felt that I needed a clearer manifesta 
tion of the love of God to enable me to rejoice 
in the midst of the severe pain I was then suf- 
fering. When the doctor told me that if I had 
anything to say I had better say it, (referring 
to temporal things,) I found myself perfectly 
ready to make up my final account with the 
world ; not a single tie seemed to be unbroken. 
Still I did not feel joy, but a desire to depart, 
and almost an unwillingness to return to life. 
On Sunday week, however, the Lord filled me 
exceedingly with his love, and my cup of joy 
did run over. O the tenderness of soul I felt ! 
the melting of the soul into love— grateful, 



266 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



tender, humble love ! I never felt anything 
like it. You may be sure I then longed to be 
gone ; but the gracious Lord, in connection 
with this manifestation of love to my soul, gave 
me a satisfactory persuasion that he could and 
would heal my body. I said, 4 Lord, thou canst 
heal me ; I shall not die, but live and declare 
the works of the Lord.' Since then I have been 
going on very nicely in body and soul. I am 
able to read, and find great comfort from the 
]STew Testament, Mr. Wesley's Sermons, and 
the Lives of Early Methodist Preachers. From 
these, and waiting upon God, I seem to get a 
daily blessing. 

"My dear wife has been wonderfully pre- 
served in health and peace, though of course 
much harassed. My brethren and Joseph Rees 
have also been remarkably w r ell during the 
whole time. Indeed, all have been able to do 
what they could wish for me, and were as will- 
ing as able. 

" I must now say a w T ord respecting your 
many kind notes, letters, etc., to me. I am 
much obliged for them. They all breathe a 
spirit I very much love. If it be any satisfac- 
tion for you to know that all your plans, labors, 
etc., meet with my full approbation, I assun? 
you this is more and more the case. You are 
more and more dear to me in every way, and I 



VIWA. 



267 



rejoice much in your present peace and pros- 
perity. I feel much for your being alone in 
the coming trial. But you will not be alone. 
The great and good Physician will be with you. 
lie sent his disciples two and two ; but if the 
harvest is so plenteous and the laborers so few 
that some must be single-handed, he will make 
up the deficiency. 

"Tour report, accounts, etc.,. came safe to 
hand. I like your report. I agree with you 
exactly about the appointments on Vanua Levu, 
and what you say will undoubtedly be acted 
upon. . . I don't know exactly what the move- 
ment of the 'Wesley' will be after she reaches 
Viwa: it will depend much on circumstances. 
I may see you in her if I should continue to 
improve, and if she should be yet some distance 
off. 

" My dear brother will excuse my going any 
further. With much love to Sister Williams, 
and earnest prayers for her comfort and safety 
in the hour of trial, and again thanking you 
both for your kind sympathy, in all of which 
my dear wife most heartily joins, 

" I remain, very affectionately yours, 

"J.Hunt." 

Within a day or two after this letter was 
written the "John Wesley" arrived from New 



268 A .MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS 



Zealand. This was always an important event ; 
and the housing of stores, the opening of pack- 
ages, and especially the reading of letters and 
news— often a year old — kept every one on the 
alert. It was impossible to shut out Mr. Hunt 
altogether from the general influence, and the 
excitement evidently told upon his shattered 
strength. Then came the district meeting, ac- 
companied by many anxieties, caused especially 
by the removal of several missionaries ; and all 
this, no doubt, hastened the last and fatal attack, 
which came upon him fiercely on the 15th of 
September. 



THE END. • 269 



CHAPTEE XIV. 

THE END. 

Temptation — Victory — The last Snare — Calm — Prayer for Fiji 
— Perfect Peace — Joy — Triumph — Death — Visit to the 
Dead — Burial — Monument — Genius — Holiness — Dr. Han- 
nah's Testimony. 

The path had turned again. Once more God's 
servant found his face looking toward another 
world. But now he was to pass over. The last 
time he walked hard by the way of death he had 
been unmolested ; now he found himself opposed. 
The evil one from whose kingdom he had been 
delivered, whose will he had resolutely resisted, 
and whose power he had beaten down in the 
scene of its unhindered triumph, now, in the 
time of extreme weakness, met him in mortal 
strife. Already Mr. Hunt had been thrust at 
with sore temptation since his partial recovery. 
While he was magnifying the power of his 
Saviour, shown forth in all his own unworthiness 
and sin, the devil, with a masked light, took up 
the lesson of blessed humbling and poisoned it. 
He fastened the sufferer's mind with a deadly 
fascination to that unmixed thought of unwor- 
thiness until it seemed incapable of hope. It 



270 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



was the old device to shut out the Saviour, to 
m^ke a Golgotha without a cross. And for a 
time a great darkness shrouded the Christian's 
soul. He thought of his active service on God's 
behalf, of his diligent studies, his many and earn- 
est preachings, his long and agonizing prayers, 
and his manifold toil. But not one remem- 
brance comforted him. Each seemed corrupt, 
and the pall of his unworthiness covered the 
whole. Then came the sting: "My life has 
been worthless and unprofitable, worse than 
useless;" and he groaned with the wound. But 
a voice whispered into his soul : "If I be not an 
apostle unto others, yet doubtless I am to you ; 
for the seal of my apostleship are ye in the 
Lord." Then was the spell broken, and he saw 
the Church of Yiwa Christians at prayer; one 
bright recollection after another came back, of 
dark cannibals convinced and converted as he 
led them to the cross of Jesus ; and with the 
cross light came, and another victory was won, 
but not the last. 

When the fatal relapse of disease took place, 
then the inner conflict was renewed more fiercely 
than ever. Before it was but an outwork ; now 
it was the citadel that suffered assault. In the 
midst of his intense pain the dying man saw, 
prominently thrust forward, sins long repented 
of and forgiven, and the recollection of his un- 



THE END. 



271 



faithfulness grew and darkened, till it threatened 
to hide the cross once more. 

At this time Mr. Calvert was at Viwa, and to 
him Mr. Hunt told his distress. He found sym- 
pathy and good counsel, and was strengthened 
by the prayers of others, so that full deliverance 
came, and Satan was cast down conquered ; as 
he ever is by that faith which rests on the Al- 
mighty Saviour, and realizes that his salvation is 
altogether and only for sinners. This battle over, 
the missionary passed on undisturbed toward 
his reward, saying : " I have a strong desire to 
depart, if it please the Lord, and to be with Je- 
sus, which would be far better." 

A day or two after his last seizure, on the Sun- 
day, he asked Mr. Calvert to read to him the 
ninth and tenth chapters of the Epistle to the 
Hebrews. He listened intently, and his heart 
glowed with love to the great High Priest, and 
trusted joyfully in his atonement. When the 
reading was over, and some time had been spent 
in prayer, he said : " Paul gives such a view of 
the work of the Saviour in those two chapters as 
fills me with admiration of, and feelings about, 
the Saviour which I cannot express. I feel him 
a perfect Saviour. I never had such views and 
hold of the Saviour as I have in this illness." 

Another week of increased feebleness and 
great pain followed. On the 23d the more dis- 



272 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



tressing symptoms disappeared, and the sick man 
had comparative ease, but it was the lull which 
precedes death. 

He spoke calmly and trustfully about his de- 
cease. With Mrs. Hunt he reviewed the way 
in which God had led them, and then, as they 
looked forth to the coming separation, he said : 
" Let us leave it all to the Lord. He knows 
what is best for each of his own." 

She replied : u Yes, my dear, we will give 
ourselves to him for life and for death." 

He joyfully answered: u O yes! that is how 
w 7 e began ; and that is how T w r e'll finish !" 

On the 26th Mr. Calvert read to him John 
xviii, and then prayed at his bedside. *It was 
evident that Mr. Hunt joined very earnestly in 
the prayer, and he was observed to weep. 
When those who had just united in committing 
their great crushing care to Him who cared for 
them, stood looking at the dying man, they 
marked how he kept on silently weeping. In a 
little while his emotioli increased, and he sob- 
bed as though in acute distress. Then, when 
the pent-up feeling could no longer be with- 
held, he cried out, " Lord, bless Fiji! save 
Fiji ! Thou knowest my soul has loved Fiji ! 
my heart has travailed in pain for Fiji !" 

It was no sorrow on his own account that 
made the Christian weep. His own prospect 



THE E^D. 



273 



was all unclouded brightness ; he had safely 
stored his last treasures, his wife and children, 
in heaven. They were in God's keeping. But 
there was something that clung about his heart 
more closely than these. That object to which 
all the energies of his great soul had been devot- 
ed was the last to be left. He had lived for 
Fiji, and his every thought, and desire, and 
purpose, and plan, and effort had long gone in 
this one direction, the conversion of Fiji. For 
some weeks he had been laid by from his work, 
his voice hushed and his hand powerless. Yet 
he had never ceased to pray for the people of 
the Islands ; but now his prayers were also to 
cease. Never till then did he feel how Fiji had 
become identified with his very life. And in 
his utter feebleness the spirit within him strove 
and struggled with its great burden. Those who 
stood by feared to see the weak frame so tossed 
about, and tried to soothe him. Mr. Calvert said : 

"The Lord knows you love Fiji. We know 
it, the Fijian Christians know it, and the 
heathen of Fiji know it. You have labored 
hard for Fiji when you were strong; now you 
are so weak you must be silent. God will save 
Fiji. He is saving Fiji.' 1 

At this the dying missionary was calmer for 
a little while ; but still he wept. The burden 
was there yet ; and his spirit, strengthened with 



2^4 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

the powers of an endless life, shook the failing 
flesh as it rose up and cast the great load down 
at the cross. He grasped Mr. Calvert with one 
hand, and lifting the other, mighty in its tremb- 
ling, he* cried aloud: 

" O let me pray once more for Fiji ! Lord, 
for Christ's sake, bless Fiji! save Fiji! Save, 
thy servants, save thy people, save the heathen 
in Fiji!" 

After this he gradually quieted down, and his 
peace was unbroken. 

Two days later he said to Mr. Calvert : " For 
two days I can think of nothing but St. Paul's 
words : ' I am in a strait betwixt two, having a 
desire to depart and be with Christ; which is 
far better.' " He then added, with great feeling : 
" £ For me to live is Christ.' If needful for my 
family and the Church I shall be raised. I have 
no choice. I am resigned to the will of God. I 
am more : I love the will of God. He rules." 

His friend said : " If we ruled we should keep 
you. But the Lord knows best." 

" Yes," he quietly answered, " he is my Ruler, 
my Proprietor. He will soon make it up in 
many ways." 

The next day w T as the quarterly fast. Some 
one told him, " We have had very good meet- 
ings to-day. The natives pray earnestly for you ; 
they never forget you in their prayers." 



THE END. 



275 



He rejoined : " I have no doubt of it. I feel 
the benefit of them." 

On this day Mr. Hunt received, for the last 
time, the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. His 
peace was perfect. 

The following Sunday found him much 
weaker, but still more tranquil, and refresh- 
ed by a better night's rest. He told Mr. 
Lyth, in answer to an inquiry about his state 
of mind : 

" That continues the same. I have no anxiety, 
nor is any temptation permitted to assault me." 
Yet in all this he said : " I have comfort, con- 
stant comfort, but I have not joy. I desire 
a greater manifestation of God's love ; but 
perhaps I could not bear more in my weak 
state." 

On the Monday he said to Mr. Lyth : " I can 
fully confide in Jesus. Jesus is very precious to 
me, he is very present with me ; I only want 
more of him." 

Tuesday brought a slight return of pain. 
When Mr. Lyth asked, " Well, Brother Hunt, 
what do you think the Lord is about to do with 
you?" Mr. Hunt replied, with a smile, " I don't 
know, only something very good." 

On Wednesday morning, October 4th, Mr. 

Hunt's face showed that mysterious change, 

which no one can describe, but which makes 

18 



276 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



those who never saw it before tremble, the 
change of approaching death. He asked Mr. 
Lyth to read to him the chapter which so many 
ask for in their last hours, which has dried so 
many tears, spoken peace so often in the storms 
of life, and shed from its immortal brightness 
a light athwart the great dark of death, and 
mingling with the excellent glory beyond. The 
dying saint drank in the strength and comfort 
and peace that well up in the fourteenth chap- 
ter of St. John, and said : 

" It is very encouraging, and very suitable to 
me, to Mrs. Hunt, and to you all. Its strain, 
too, is so compassionate and tender; just what 
we need. There are a thousand things in us 
needing his forbearance." 

He then quoted the verse: "But of him are 
ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made unto us 
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, 
and redemption." 1 Cor. i, 30. Then he went 
on in a clear emphatic whisper : " Christ is made 
unto us of God, our wisdom to enlighten us, our 
righteousness to atone for us, our sanctification 
to cleanse us, and our redemption to deliver us 
from a great many temptations, dangers, and 
difficulties ; and he will deliver us in death, and 
bring us to glory. What a perfect Saviour ! 
God makes Christ such to me. These are the 
views that support me now. I look to Christ 



THE E^D. 



277 



alone. I dare not look at myself, or at anything 
I have done." 

Now the Christian's gaze was all fixed on 
Christ. Nothing could divert it. He saw noth- 
ing but Christ: Christ covering past sin, Christ 
sheltering his widows and orphans, Christ hold- 
ing his hand with almighty love, and Christ fill- 
ing heaven with glory for him. The pilgrim 
was not far from home now ; and this light of 
home fell upon him as he drew near, and made 
the still calm of his peaceful trust sparkle with 
the gladness for which he had longed, so that 
he exclaimed, " Now he is my joy !" 

On being told that his end must be veiy near, 
Mr. Hunt replied : " I do not think the time is 
come yet ; this seems too easy and pleasant for 
dying." Turning to his mourning wife he said: 
" If this be dying, praise the Lord !" Then he 
lay still, as if trying to feel that he was about to 
depart, and after a time said : " How strange ! 
I cannot realize that I am dying, and yet you all 
look as if I were." 

Noon came swiftly to. the watching ones 
around that bed, and he whom they w r atched 
was rapidly getting weaker. An hour after Mr. 
Lyth said to him, as he lay there often smiling, 
and always worshiping, " You are very happy, 
Brother Hunt." 

He answered : " Yes. I am getting weaker." 



278 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



" Yes, you are getting near the port, you are 
crossing the river, and the Lord Jesus is with 
you." 

A whisper started from the dying lips, 
" Glory !" 

" You see a bright prospect before you," con- 
tinued his faithful friend. 

" I see nothing but Jesus," was his answer. 

His mind was perfectly clear, and his words, 
though faint in sound, had all their wonted 
vigor. He turned to Mr. Calvert, saying : " It 
is a solemn thing to die, very solemn." 

His friend replied : " Mr. Wesley, in dying, 
clung to Jesus, and you do." 

"Yes," he said, "I cleave* to Jesus, and am 
right ; I have nothing else to look to. He is all 
I have to trust in. If I look from him I am in 
a vortex ; I have doubts and condemnation. 
But I have full faith in him. I have peace and 
pardon in him. I have no disturbance at all." 

Then they saw how the saint addressed him- 
self afresh to pray to the sinner's Saviour ; and 
for some time the moving of the white lips and 
aspect of the face told that he was engaged in 
intense and silent worship. Presently, as his 
eyes looked up with a bright joy that defied 
death, he exclaimed : " I want strength to praise 
him abundantly. I am very happy !" 

Mrs. Hunt, who bent over him in the last 



THE END. 



279 



effort of helpless love, asked, " Have you had a 
fresh manifestation of the love of God ?" 

"Yes," he answered; "Halleluiah! praise 
the Lord Jesus ! I do not depend on this," he 
added emphatically, and shaking his head : " I 
bless the Lord, I trust in Jesus." 

Again there was a pause of silence, and the 
happy triumphant spirit of the Christian forced 
the dying flesh to do service of praise once more. 
"ISTow he is my joy ! I thought I should have 
entered heaven singing, Jesus and salvation ! 
Now I shall enter singing, Jesus, salvation, and 
glory, eternal glory !" In his ecstasy he tried 
to raise himself, but could not, and his head fell 
back, a3 he said, " Halleluiah ! Halleluiah !" 
again and again. He already joined in the 
praise of paradise. " Halleluiah !" he repeated 
twenty or thirty times, every time fainter, till 
his voice was hushed. 

Presently he spoke again, and left messages 
to the other missionaries and their wives, to the 
native Christians and the chiefs, especially Tha- 
kombau. Afterward he prayed for his children, 
and urged them to live according to their moth- 
er's teaching and example. He solemnly com- 
mitted that good and faithful woman to God's 
holy keeping, and asked heavenly blessing, for a 
devoted native servant. Then he begged Mr. 
Calvert to pray. 



280 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

About three in the afternoon his right arm 
rose, as if convulsively, and, as he turned on his 
side, grasped his fellow missionary Calvert, who 
put his arms round him. For a few minutes 
there was heavy and broken breathing, and 
then a solemn hush disturbed by the sob of a 
widow: "Lord, comfort my poor heart!" and 
an earnest "Amen" from those* who stood 
round. 

Leaving his body in his brother's arms, John 
Hunt, the missionary, died. 

The sad news soon spread through Yiwa, and 
the natives came to look on their dead pastor 
and friend ; and many of the hearts gathered 
round that bed were very full of grateful re- 
membrance of him who should teach and help 
them no more. 

Early the next morning came Thakombau to 
see the body of him before whose warnings his 
stout heart had often quailed, and who had 
bound to himself the proud spirit of the savage 
chief by the charity of the Gospel. Now the 
great man, attended by the large retinue, gazed 
at the pale face with evident emotion ; and 
when told how the good man had died, and how 
he had left a dying word of love and entreaty 
for him, he was much moved. 

At three o'clock that afternoon a plain cof- 
fin borne by native students, was carried out 



THE END. 



281 



of the mission house. It had on it no emblaz- 
onry, and no record but this : 

Rev. John Hunt 

Slept in Jesus 
October 4th, 1848, 
Aged 36 Tears. 

There followed that coffin a woman bowed 
beneath the weight of her first day's widowhood. 
And with her came his fellow-missionaries; 
after whom, in decent attire, there walked the 
foreign residents and a crowd of Fijians. At 
the grave Mr. Lyth read the burial service of 
the English Church, and Mr. Calvert spoke in 
the language of the natives, while tears wet 
many a dark cheek as the earth closed over 
the remains of the preacher of the Gospel. 

When the news of Mr. Hunt's death reached 
England, John Chubb, Esq., of Islington, sent 
out an iron monument and fence, which stand 
over the missionary's grave at Viwa, a memori- 
al of a man who loved God wholly, served him 
faithfully, and left the world better than he 
found it. 

Here ends the history of John Hunt, whom 
the Spirit of God found an unlettered plow- 
boy On the broad plains of Lincolnshire, and 
changed his heart and gave him power to bless 
the country folk, and then the citizens, with 



282 A MISSIONAKY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



his words ; who left the fields and wrought hard 
in the study , and being full of faith and the 
Holy Ghost, did by his preaching turn many 
to righteousness ; who being sent to the ends of 
the earth to preach Christ, went forth with 
cheerful faith ; who made a home among the 
savage men-eaters of Fiji, and prayed and 
toiled, until he saw many of these men of blood 
living blameless, loving, and useful lives, and 
reading in their own rich language the ISTew 
Testament of the Lord Jesus, and a literature 
which, though scanty, was pure ; and who, 
" after he had served his own generation by the 
will of God, fell on sleep." 

And what raised this man, and other worthies, 
so far above the average level of ordinary 
Christianity ? Was it genius? Some things in 
their history seem to show this, and enforce the 
conviction that they would have distinguished 
themselves in any calling. But genius never 
made a man virtuous, or unselfish, or a devoted 
helper of his kind. Genius never impelled a 
man to seek the salvation of souls, or ever se- 
cured those triumphs which one day will be the 
only victories that win crowns. 

John Hunt's greatness consisted in his holi- 
ness. He saw that God demanded, promised, 
and provided a complete holiness ; " and being 
not weak in faith, he considered not " those 



THE END. 



283 



things which reason and experience declare to 
make a perfect salvation impossible. "He stag- 
gered not at the promise of God through unbe- 
lief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to 
God ; and being fully persuaded that what he 
had promised he was able also to perform." If 
any one would understand the secret of this 
good man's distinguished excellence, let him 
read the Letters on Entire Sanctification, which 
all who knew the author allow to be a repro- 
duction of his own experience ; and if any one 
would serve God and man as well as John Hunt 
did, he must follow the counsels of that most 
scriptural volume. 

The different dialects of a various Churchism 
may call it by different names, but the people 
of God must give more and more prominence 
to the doctrine of holiness through faith in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. Thus Mr. Hunt writes, after 
using the illustration of a sick patient who is 
always convalescent but never well : 

"TKis is exactly the case with numbers of 
Christians of the present day. It must be from 
one or other of these two causes : either their 
spiritual physicians do not prescribe the proper 
remedy, or the people do not use it when pre- 
scribed. The consequence is that the Church 
is continually finding fresh cause to lament her 
inefficiency to accomplish the task assigned her 



284 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 



by the Saviour, that of letting her light so 
shine in the family, in the neighborhood, in 
every part of the country where she is estab- 
lished, and in the world, that others may see 
her good works and glorify her Father which is 
in heaven. Her light does shine, but it does 
not 'so shine f nor will this be the case until 
entire holiness is more generally prescribed as 
the remedy for the present state of the Church. 

Many testimonies might be added to the 
worth, the love, the piety, the godly nobility of 
the subject of this memoir, from the hands of 
those who deem it one of their life's crowning 
blessings that they were enriched by his friend- 
ship. One such testimony is of peculiar inter- 
est, and may fitly close this record. At the an- 
nual meeting of the W esleyan Methodist Mis- 
sionary Society, held in Exeter Hall, May, 1849, 
the Reverend Dr. Hannah, the revered tutor 
and fondly cherished friend of the late mission- 
ary, who — together with all who have felt the 
guiding of his faithful and steady hand in the 
things of God— regarded him with a peculiar 
affection, said : 

"Is it a discouragement to us that missiona- 
ries themselves pass away, and pass away in 
many instances just in the full tide of their 
ministerial usefulness? This also should be 
employed as a motive for good. I may perhaps 



THE END. 



285 



be excused if, among the seven missionaries 
whose deaths are named in the Report, I advert 
in my own mind particularly to one ; to one 
who for a season was placed under my own 
care, and whose character I*intimately and 
gratefully knew. May I say that I refer to the 
Rev. John Hunt, who lately fell, fell in his ar- 
mor, gloriously fell, fell to rise for ever, in 
Fiji? ' 

" He was a man of humble origin, and at 
first of humble attainments; but he received 
the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ in truth, 
and that grace made him what he was. But 
for that grace he might have passed through 
life unknown and unnoted. Grace called forth 
mind ; that mind discovered unexpected ener- 
gies ; and these energies, under the guidance 
and blessing of the Lord the Spirit, yielded 
labors, the fruits of which shall not easily die. 

"I never knew a man more right-hearted 
with respect to the great work of our Lord and 
Saviour. I never knew a man whose princi- 
ples were more staid, whose zeal was more per- 
petually fed by charity, and who was more dis- 
posed to devote himself in every possible way to 
the advancement of his Master's praise. And 
although his life, in human estimation, may 
seem to have been cut short in the midst, yet 
in abundance of labors and in extraordinary 



286 A MISSIONARY AMONG CANNIBALS. 

success, John Hunt lived a long life. He 
crowded the labors and successes of many years 
into ten ; and although he has passed away 
when we wished he might remain, I trust his 
example will ye* live and will yet operate." 

"Now unto Him that is able to bo exceed- 
ing ABUNDANTLY ABOVE ALL THAT WE ASK OR 

think, according- to the power that worket# 
in us, unto him be glory itf the church by 
Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world 
without end. amen." 



THE END. 



I 



36?° 

ferfr 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS, 



f 

021 623 414 5 



